I still run into the occasional late fall mushroom as the temperatures have been dropping. I liked the lantern-like effect of the light through the gills of this one. I’m not sure what species it is.

I have 4 nights of window recordings I need to get published, but that probably won’t happen until sometime next week.

It has been chilly the last couple of days, with partly cloudy skies overnight, but I still was a little surprised to see how much of the surface of Swan Lake was covered in ice. It was thin ice, though Mallards were able to land on it without breaking through. At this rate, perhaps it will be another winter like last, where the lake froze up at the end of November and never completely thawed until at least March or April.

Trumpeter Swan: At first I was not even sure this was an animal call. After a couple of listens I realized it sounded like a swan, and a quick check of the Birds of Alaska CD confirmed it. Download Trumpeter Swan

Hairy Woodpecker: I am not absolutely sure about this call, but I’m confident that it’s a woodpecker. Although it seems clear the woodpecker must be flying from left to right, the wingbeats that are heard in this clip are probably from a Raven, not the woodpecker.
Download Hairy Woodpecker

Dark-eyed Juncos: These juncos were getting after each other a bit. In recent days I have been realizing that I have not seen many Dark-eyed Juncos around lately. I’m not sure why that is, but apparently they’ve returned to the neighborhood for at least one morning.
Download Dark-eyed Juncos

A couple of weeks ago I took advantage of the first sunny day in ages and went for a hike up Indian River Trail. With only 3 hours or so, I did not have a lot of time, but it was nice to get out and enjoy the bright conditions.

I made it as far as Billy Basin Creek bridge before I turned around in order to get back in time for my afternoon responsibilities.

On the way back, I noticed some fresh Brown Bear tracks in the mud. They were headed down the trail. They seemed pretty obvious, but I had not noticed them on the way up. It could have been the lighting wasn’t as good, since the sun had not risen high enough to light the valley bottom, but it’s also possible that the tracks were made in the hour or so between the times when I passed that spot on the trail.

Mystery Call: I have no idea what made this noise.
Download Mystery Call

Songbird Chirps: Context seems to be fairly important for identification at times. I’m pretty sure these are chirps from a Dark-eyed Junco right outside the window. I know it’s a small song bird, but without being able to see the bird, I’m not positive about the id. Normally such chirps would alert me and I would look to see the bird. Most likely, even a quick flash would be enough to id it at that point, but without more context, I’m not confident in the id with just the sounds.
Download Songbird Chirps

Mystery Call: These are the strongest three calls I got. I could hear 7 of them all together, starting quietly, building in strength and then fading again. Presumably that represents a flyby, but I still don’t know what species it might be. The shorebirds I would expect to be seeing this time of year do not sound like this, as far as I know.

Marbled Murrelets: I suspect all of these are Marbled Murrelets. I’m confident in the first one, and the last part of the second, but less so about the others, as the calls are more like chirps than the ‘keer’ calls of Marbled Murrelets. However, I would not be surprised if Marbled Murrelets chirp also. The initial chirps in the second clip have a very similar sound quality to the following ‘keer’ calls, so it seems likely to be a Marbled Murrelet throughout. Trying to puzzle these chirps out has made me curious if Marbled Murrelets might respond to River Otters chirping.

Mystery Call: In a different context, I’m pretty sure I would recognize this call. For some reason I can’t place it in this recording, however. I’m thinking it might be a Pine Siskin, however. Recorded at 01:12. Download Mystery Call

Pine Siskins This is the better of the two Pine Siskin calls I caught. I’m not sure what they were doing in the middle of the night.
Download Pine Siskins

Download Bald Eagle Calls

Marbled Murrelets: The first Marbled Murrelet calls I noticed were just before 3am. They continued on sporadically through at last 5am. It’s not really known why Marbled Murrelets fly inland during the night throughout the year, though in the summer they do so to visit their nests.
Download Marbled Murrelet 1
Download Marbled Murrelet 2
Download Marbled Murrelet 3

Mystery Call: There’s probably not much hope for figuring out this call. The first call is obscured somewhat by a Marbled Murrelet call, and a second call is much fainter.
Mystery Call

Duck Flyover: I think I’ll try to start paying more attention to the sound of ducks flying in order to see if I can figure out species by the sound of their flight.
Duck Flyover

Raven Calls: Another Raven vocalization that I’ve not caught on recording previously.
Download Raven Calls