Night Flight Calls of migratory birds.

[nfc-l] Help with NFC

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:29:20 -0500

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I am new to this list (and quite new to nocturnal flight call recording),
but am interested to get input on this NFC I recorded this morning, 24 May,
at 3:25 AM. It sounds too exaggerated to me for Gray-cheeked Thrush, and
reminds me of Alder Flycatcher. Would really appreciate hearing other
opinions.

[nfc-l] Archiving cassette recordings

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:50:23 -0500

Hello NFC-ers,

Our lab has about 50 - 60 cassette tapes with bird recordings that we would like to electronically archive in a reasonable amount of time . Can anyone recommend a possible archiving system that converts to WAV (or at least other than MP3) that would retain the

RE: [nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Listening stations - Through May 7, 2012

Fri, 11 May 2012 21:49:25 -0500

Thanks Mikethats why I mentioned that I already have WCSP hereand theyve been here for three weeks at least. Im in Oregon. So, for this year at least, Im leaning towards an alternate migration route.

From: Mike Farmer [mailto:(email address filtered)]
Sent: Friday, May 11,

Re: [nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Listening stations - Through May 7, 2012

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:44:24 -0500

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Caitlin,

I think you are right. If a sparrow is going to migrate during favorable north winds in the fall in Austin, It is going to have to take advantage of fewer good days than if it wants to migrate north on the constant south winds of spring.

Re: [nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Hourly count - Through May 7, 2012

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:53:51 -0500

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I am a dummy....
I am a dummy....
I am a dummy....

Of course! Its not a reverse chart of nighttime noise. Its the fact that not all birds take off at dusk. They build in numbers for a few hours before they are all

Re: [nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Hourly count - Through May 7, 2012

Fri, 11 May 2012 10:14:43 -0500

Thanks everyone....I wish there was a central place for all your knowledge for us newbies to peruse. It would make getting started easier....but maybe less fun in the floundering?

Ive had this discussion with a bunch of people just starting to record or who have given up after attempting

Re: [nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Hourly count - Through May 7, 2012

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:09:56 -0500

Nice data Mike! The relationship looks intuitive to me. Here's my
broadly-general speculation on the topic:
Under stable atmospheric conditions, I think you get less flight calls
during initiation of migration than you do once birds are at altitude. The
rationale is that birds don't really 'need' to communicate initially since
they've just departed and

RE: [nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Listening stations - Through May 7, 2012

Thu, 10 May 2012 22:15:38 -0500

Mike-- A couple of questions:

1) The Sparrow migration is steadier in spring. Or is it that you have
had nearly constant winds this spring? Are the winds nearly always more
constant in spring?

2) Are WC and WT SP

[nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Listening stations - Through May 7, 2012

Thu, 10 May 2012 17:00:33 -0500

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Well, the most fascinating thing about any new hobby is the surprises that occur. And this one is no different. We first started recording on Sept 29th of last fall. We had missed most of the fall migration by starting so late.

[nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Hourly count - Through May 7, 2012

Thu, 10 May 2012 15:15:26 -0500

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Since March 1, our Austin city station has recorded 4250 night calls. The quieter station 10 miles to the west had 6372. See the attached graph showing the number of calls per hour of the night. This is for the quiet station.

This chart

[nfc-l] Help with calls

Wed, 09 May 2012 23:28:53 -0500

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OK, so I'm a NFC babe in arms struggling a bit with some of these calls I'm recording here in NJ. I have the Flight Calls CD and some other online resources, but struggling with how to wrap my mind around distinguishing some of these calls.

[nfc-l] May 3/4th - biggest East Coast migration night of the year?

Thu, 03 May 2012 22:55:08 -0500

When I checked the weather a few days ago, it looked like tomorrow (Friday)
night could be really big. However, I just checked the radar and it looks
like the whole Eastern half of the US is on fire with migration. I stuck
my head outside and heard a decent

Re: [nfc-l] Help with short flight call

Thu, 03 May 2012 10:35:45 -0500

Well, at the risk of total humiliation....I believe its a Canada Warbler. What you see is the back end of the sonogram. Once you see that, you can just see in GlassOFire the hint of the rest of the sonogram. And in Raven Pro,

RE: [nfc-l] Help with short flight call

Wed, 02 May 2012 23:18:41 -0500

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If anyone is having trouble with my first clip, here's a longer clip...there are two calls, the one I sent before was the first. Interested in both, actually...

Rob Fergus

[nfc-l] Help with short flight call

Wed, 02 May 2012 22:23:17 -0500

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Here's a short flight call I recorded early this morning. I have some ideas about what it might be, but could use some feedback. Thanks!

Rob Fergus

Re: [nfc-l] Do Barn Owls migrate?

Tue, 01 May 2012 21:33:55 -0500

Mike et al.

In case you didn't get a straight answer, it's yes and no and maybe. In
Cape May we saw numbers increase in the fall into areas not known to hold
Barn Owls during the summer.

Here's the BNA account on migration:

Migration
Nature Of Migration In The Species

Extent of migration in this

Re: [nfc-l] Do Barn Owls migrate?

Tue, 01 May 2012 20:24:38 -0500

Mike,

Found this link (http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v104n02/p0312-p0320.pdf)
on web some years back after I recorded a Barn Owl NFC early December over
my house in Gaithersburg, MD. Not sure how applicable it is to your locale
in TX. I have probably picked up 4-5 Barn Owls in as many years. Either in
the late Nov-early Dec time

[nfc-l] Do Barn Owls migrate?

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 09:28:08 -0500

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Ive been getting these at 3 of our stations here in Texas. I just chalked it up to resident birds but last night I got 2 over the house in the city. I have never heard them here. Its very possible,

Re: [nfc-l] Unknown Hunterdon NJ Night Flight Call

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:00:17 -0500

Yes! I have been looking at this great wind map since Chris alerted us to it. The last 1O days there have been extended days in which most of the eastern US, and Texas, had north winds and there has been a near complete collapse in

RE: [nfc-l] Unknown Hunterdon NJ Night Flight Call

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:11:40 -0500

Wow Michael and Andy, thanks for pointing me to Virginia Rail. I doubt I'd ever have thought of that myself. It's exciting (and very humbling) after all these years of birding to be thrown into such unfamiliar territory!

Rob Fergus

Re: [nfc-l] Unknown Hunterdon NJ Night Flight Call

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 12:53:49 -0500

Rob,

I have a similar call posted on my website (http://www.nightmigrants.com/
<http://www.nightmigrants.com/%C2%A0>) which I presume to be a VA Rail
based on finding a similar example at Steve Kelling's flight call website (
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdcalls). I remember emailing the call to
Steve and he felt confident it was good match for last part of "kicker"
call of

[nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Listening stations - April 1 to April 15, 2012

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:34:24 -0500

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As we had hoped, the number of night calls reached new highs for the spring in the first two weeks of April. Favorable calm or south winds produced from 100 to 200 calls each night. See attached graphs.

As a comparison, we have a recorder at

[nfc-l] Some observations on night recording at High Island, TX

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:14:19 -0500

This past weekend, April 14th and 15th, we recorded at night at High Island itself and then the15th at Winnie, Tx to the north. This weekends flight of birds may have been the best so far this year due to the fact that the previous weeks winds

[nfc-l] Heron NFCs (Tricolored?)

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:04:29 -0500

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Hi All,

This recording is from Rye, NY last May--a coastal saltmarsh. Sounds to me
like a heron, and Tricolored is my best guess (although it is rare in the
county). I've never had the pleasure of actually hearing a Tricolored Heron
call in flight, but based on a few recordings and text

[nfc-l] NFC rattle call

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:35:01 -0500

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Hi All,

This call (attached) was recorded in May 2011 in Rye, NY. My first
impression is a Lapland Longspur rattle call, choosing that over Snow
Bunting because the call seems to be more descending than rising (see the
Flight Call Guide). However, the late date gives me pause, as both species
have for

Re: [nfc-l] roll call!

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:58:06 -0500

Ok, We have six 21cs. I have one at my home in Austin. One 15 miles west of Austin, quieter for comparison to my home. One 103 miles east of Austin. One in Portal, Arizona.....not sure what that will get!

Re: [nfc-l] roll call!

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 05:45:20 -0500

David et al.,

I'll be recording in Northern NJ though I am a complete amateur and
don't have an automated recording station--lots of manual exporting in
real time happening at my house. I can't provide calls/hour data,
therefore, but I get a nice sample of some of the species overhead.

Learning a LOT from

[nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Listening stations - March 15 to March 31, 2012

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:42:32 -0500

The anticipation is killing us. In recent years, there have been fantastic fallouts in Texas in the first 10 days of April. So we know the big flights are coming.

But in the meantime, its indeed fun to see the beginnings of spring migration in the two

[nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Listening stations - Jan 1 to March 15, 2012

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:40:21 -0500

In a month, we may look back and say that the 2012 migration in Austin, Tx based on night flight calls began on Feb 28. That marked the first day when south winds started producing a nice bump in birds. It is a small bump.

[nfc-l] Common Gallinule call?

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 11:16:00 -0600

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Hi All,

The attached recordings are from 4/14/11 at 8:35 PM, and 4/15/11 at 11:09
PM in Rye, NY. Because these very similar calls were recorded two nights in
a row, I think it's more likely that these are from a bird on the ground
(or, more accurately, in the water), not in

[nfc-l] Unknown flight call

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:22:53 -0600

NFCers,

Sitting outside here in San Diego, California this evening, I heard a vocalization that has me utterly stymied. No recording, but quite distinctive so I am hoping someone can offer a suggestion for a species to review. It started out with three high whistles followed by two trills/warbles

Re: [nfc-l] Acadian Flycatcher NFCs?

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:41:53 -0600

Ben,

Have recorded Acadian Flycatchers 3 times (all in May) during night
recording since 2005. Unfortunately, all were typical "pseet-seeup" calls
and at least two of the three (and possibly all 3) came right around start
of dawn chorus (4:30ish). Could not determine if made in flight or not.
Calls were pretty loud suggesting they

Re: [nfc-l] Another empid (Alder?)

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:59:07 -0600

Benjamin,

I get a few calls like your first example every year in central NY -- see two examples on the hypothetical Yellow-bellied nfc page in the Flight Calls CD. I concur with Michael's assessment and also keeping an open mind for Alder and other empids. This is a tough group

[nfc-l] Another empid (Alder?)

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:23:32 -0600

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Hi All,

Looks like there's another one...a soft "pwip" note that has me thinking
Alder Flycatcher. I went back to the original file and it unfortunately
seems to have called only once. The date is 9/26/10, at 2:22 AM. Thoughts?

Again, Evans and O'Brien note: "Not known to call in nocturnal migration
but presumed

[nfc-l] Acadian Flycatcher NFC?

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:41:54 -0600

Hi All,

I've provided a link to download a recording made on 9/16/10 (yes, I'm
backlogged!) at 1:18 AM in Rye, NY. It's midwinter so I'm a bit rusty, but
sounds to me like an Acadian Flycatcher calls four times (at the 1.9, 15.8,
24.4, and 29.5 second marks), getting louder and then receding.

RE: [nfc-l] First night flight of 2012?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:26:40 -0600

In my acoustic recordings in Michigan, Killdeer was a very frequent night
caller. Also here in Oregon I hear them regularly at night throughout the
winter. However, they are not rare in either place.

Best,

Caitlin

-----Original Message-----
From: (email address filtered)
[mailto:(email address filtered)] On Behalf Of Andrew
Albright
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 7:14 PM
To:

[nfc-l] First night flight of 2012?

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:13:54 -0600

I just got back from running (more than 3 hours after nightfall) and I
heard a Killdeer fly overhead!

I'm in southeastern PA and this is very rare bird in the winter for
this county. So....does this count as a night flight? What in the
world is this bird doing?

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[nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Part 2. semi-automating a night flight station using OLDBIRD software and Excel

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:32:06 -0600

So lets go over the daily routine,,,,,run software Tseep and Thrush on last nights recording file. Run GlassOFire to throw away the noise clips. Move the resulting Thrush and Tseep bird clips into their day folders. Run GlassOFire to sort the obvious birds from the

Re:[nfc-l] Austin, Tx - Part 1. Semi-automating a night flight station using OLDBIRD software and Excel

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:28:17 -0600

This post is a combining of answers to questions that people have emailed me in the last couple of months. I believe it useful to put it all together. For the newbie, like me.

The Oldbird software needs the following folders, C:\My Recordings and C:\temp\calls.

[nfc-l] Austin, Tx - another macro

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:40:25 -0600

This excel macro counts the number of flight calls for a given hour of the night. There are two arguments to the function, folder name and hour of day.

So for instance, if you have all your birds in individual folders, you can put a row

Re: [nfc-l] Austin, TX - Listening Stations - 24 Nov to 31 Dec

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:35:09 -0600

Hey Mike,

There is no such CD that you refer to. Would appreciate it you could refer to both authors or simply the Flight Call CD (at least until someone else publishes a flight call cd).

Regarding Harris' Sparrow flight call, I suspect they would be in with your Song Sparrows if

[nfc-l] Austin, TX - Listening Stations - 24 Nov to 31 Dec

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:25:47 -0600

The great sparrow migration of Austin, TX, that occurred in numbers with the north winds of pacific cold fronts, finally ended the last week of November. Although each night that was not rainy still produced from 1 to 29 birds, there seems to be no relationship to