Starling Murmurations

November did not have many sunny days, but the early December weekends have had some nice sunsets. I went to visit a Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) roost to photograph the murmurations. The birds arrived in some reasonable numbers quite late in the day and flew around for just 14 minutes before settling in for the night.

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www.frasersimpson-birdphotography.com

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Summerland Key, Late Fall

Early November I was back in the Florida Keys on field work, kayaking around the mangroves of Summerland Key.

I've uploaded a trip report here:

www.fssbirding.org.uk/floridatrip2014nov.htm

Highlights included my first Würdemann's Heron, lots of herons and egrets including Reddish Egret, Tricolored Heron and Little Blue Heron; raptors including Broad-winged Hawk and Short-tailed Hawk; and migrant passerines such as Worm-eating Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Kentucky Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Northern Parula, Indigo Bunting, and Painted Bunting.

Serpentine Sea Ravens

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www.frasersimpson-birdphotography.com

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Catharus Thrush Songs

Some of the most beautiful woodland sounds from the northern states of the US and Canada come from the Catharus genus of thrushes. Back in midsummer I made some recordings of three species in Maine. Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli) was the one that got away, being too distant for a decent recording. The term ethereal probably best describes the overall quality of their sound and even with a decent microphone its difficult to capture the sound in quite the same way my ears heard them. Sometimes its best just to get out and hear bird song in a natural context to fully appreciate it. The excitement I felt on first hearing these three species was just like when I hear my first Blackbird of the year in late winter.

Woodland at Brownfield Bog/Major Gregory Sanborn WMA

Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus
Brownfield Bog, Maine, USA 43° 58' 06.0" N 70° 52' 48.6" W 19 June 2014 
Song composed of strophes (shorter than Swainson's) of steady flute-like elements with slight wavering endings; each strophe starting at different frequencies. Singing at dusk from mixed, dense maple/oak/spruce forest.

Veery  Catharus fuscescens
Brownfield Bog, Maine, USA  43° 58' 06.0" N  70° 52' 48.6" W  30 June 2014
Song composed of nasal or 'metallic' sounding fluting which rolls and decreases in frequency, c1.5 metres up in the understory of mixed deciduous woodland bordering wetlands.

Spruce forest north of Nesowadnehunk, Baxter State Park

Swainson's Thrush  Catharus ustulatus
Baxter State Park, Maine, USA  46° 00' 37.4" N  69° 03' 46.0" W  25 June 2014
Song composed of strophes (longer than Hermit) of low flute-like elements spiralling into higher frequency whistles. Singing from old-growth spruce forest.

Serpentine Grebes

Urban Great Crested Grebes (Podiceps cristatus) in London, photographed in natural lighting conditions. These individuals survive mostly on European perch (Perca fluviatilis) but wintering Black-headed Gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) have quickly learned to kleptoparasitise them. 

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www.frasersimpson-birdphotography.com

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Duckweed Herons

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Maine Birding & Sound Recording Trip Report

I've uploaded a trip report with sound recordings for my recent visit to Maine on the main website at:  www.fssbirding.org.uk/maine2014trip.htm

Kindrogan, Perthshire

I've uploaded a trip report from my annual field course trip to Kindrogan in Perthshire. This year the Green Woodpeckers remained, with likely a second pair nearby, and Goshawk was observed again. Other highlights included Goosander, Golden Eagle, Woodcock, Tree Pipit, Dipper, Redstart, Ring Ouzel, Wood Warbler, Pied Flycatcher and Common Crossbill.

www.fssbirding.org.uk/kindrogantrip2014.htm

Curlew  Numenius arquata
Glen Brerachan, Perthshire, Scotland  56° 44' 40.5" N  03° 38' 25.5" W  12 June 2012

Bubbling song uttered during display flight over heather moorland, with two birds from 20 secs.


Tree Pipit  Anthus trivialis
Kindrogan Field Centre, Perthshire, Scotland  56° 44' 45.8" N  03° 32' 49.7" W  11 June 2014

Perched song composed of a series of slow trills, the main phrase gradually decreasing in frequency. Flight song during parachuting display composed of a more complicated series of slow and rapid trills and more musical slurred elements delivered in discrete phrases. Note the distinctive down-slurred element from 8.1 to 5.7 kHz between 77.1 and 77.9 secs. Singing from a regenerating clear-fell area of Sitka Spruce in Kindrogan Hill.

Goosander  Mergus merganser
Glen Brerachan, Perthshire, Scotland  56° 45' 21.5" N  03° 36' 32.9" W  12 June 2014 

Calls from a female in flight, circling potential breeding area.

Wood Warbler  Phylloscopus sibilatrix
Kindrogan, Perthshire, Scotland  56° 45' 08.3" N  03° 33' 56.7" W  11 June 2014 

Two song types: more common trill (84% of songs in this bird), and less common tew-tew-tew (16%). Common song composed of distinctive accelerating trill, starting with hesitant elements (countable by ear), gradually decreasing in frequency to a rapid finish (uncountable to the ear). Second song type composed of musical, downslurred elements (at 28 secs in this recording). Singing from tree-fall area in a spruce plantation bordering sycamore/beech trees.

Loon Song

Last month I was in the state of Maine, birding the rich forests and sound recording wood-warblers, thrushes, and loons. Depending on which side of the pond you're on, the Common Loon or Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer) has vocalisations often described as haunting, evocative, even eerie. Its always been one of my favourite sounds in nature though until now I had never had the opportunity to hear it in the wild. On this trip I heard them calling from my tent at night and I can certainly attest to the previous adjectives! 

Kidney Pond, Baxter State Park, Maine, USA 45° 53' 34.8" N 69° 02' 52.5" W 26 June 2014 
Wail from a single bird [File name: commonloonLS112810e] 

Getting a nice recording was difficult because from the lake shores I encountered a nocturnal chorus from American Bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) which by comparison to the beautiful vocals of the loon, is just horrible to my ears. Below is the best I could get with a pair duetting with wails then tremelos.

Wails from single Common Loon, Webb Lake, Maine, US.

Wails from a pair of Common Loons, Webb Lake, Maine, US.

Tremelo duet from Common Loons, Webb Lake, Maine, US.

Fans of electronic music will remember the classic loon sample in 808 State's track Pacific State.