Sitka Nature

A trip in mid-November interrupted my recording habit, and it took a while to get back into it. Things seem to be pretty quiet most nights, and I decided to collapse a few of the highlights from the few nights in November I recorded but did not yet post.

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A Chestnut-backed Chickadee and Red-breasted Nuthatch trade calls. This was one of the last times I heard a nuthatch around the house, though I have heard them elsewhere in town, since. Recorded the morning of 11 November.

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After my return, the Bald Eagles seemed to be the first birds to greet the day. Some mornings they are perched in the trees right behind the house. Recorded morning of 29 November.

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The night of the 29-30 November, was a busy one for Marbled Murrelets. There are two clips on this recording, the first one sounds like the bird was quite close, and if I’m interpreting the sound correctly, there’s the smear of an echo with it. The second was from 10 or 15 seconds later, more distant. Perhaps the same bird on a return flight? Recorded at 03:28 am.

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Chestnut-backed Chickadees are reputed to be cheerful even in foul weather. This one didn’t seemed to have its spirits dampened by the chilly November rain.

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Ravens make a wide variety of different calls. On this recording there are three different clips with 4 different types of calls in the foreground (and another in the far background). Perhaps some day I’ll come up with descriptive names for the different ones I record. Recorded morning of 30 November.

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More Raven calls, these from the morning of 1 December. This clip features what I might call the frog croak call as well as the more typical caw.

More mystery calls last night. Also caught a distant screech-owl a couple of different times, but did not include a clip since its calls were fairly quiet and did not really sound any different than other ones I’ve posted previously. The wind kicked up a bit as daylight came.

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Otter/Mystery Calls: I think the calls at the start of clip are from a River Otter, but I’m not sure. They sound somewhat like the mystery calls that I was thinking might be gulls from the night before. The last couple of calls near the end (after a couple of seconds without any) sound (and look on the spectrogram) qualitatively different, but that could be due to proximity and/or echo effects, I suppose.
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Otter/Mystery Calls: In this clip I’m pretty confident there are otter chirps, I do not know why a Gull would be calling along with an otter, so this clip makes me suspect that the calls I was thinking were gulls may actually be otter vocalizations.
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Duck Flight: I am pretty sure the whistling noises in this clip are from the wing feathers of flying ducks. I’m not sure what species (nor whether it is possible to tell the species by this sound). I think they may have flown a circle around the neighborhood, as the sound lasted for longer than I would expect on a direct fly-over (though I didn’t include everything in this clip).
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Mystery Call: A single call that I believe I’ve heard before (and included a clip of). It sounds rather shorebird-like, and it occured to me that it may be a Wilson’s Snipe. However, none of the recordings I have found so far of Wilson’s Snipe include a call like this.
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Chestnut-backed Chickadees and Wind: Chestnut-backed Chickadees calling while the wind blows through the trees.
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Raven Calls and Wind: I think this fast calling Raven was flying, but I’m not sure.
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Rain off and on through the night and morning. Quite a bit of activity in the early hours of the morning. I can’t decide whether the calls were from Gulls, Otters, or both.

Mystery Calls: These calls started around 4am, and continued off and on for the next couple of hours, at least. I have included three different clips. Mostly they sound like gulls to me, but I am not sure why gulls would be out and about this early in the morning (well before daylight). Some of the calls are slightly more reminiscent of River Otter chirps, and I am unsure of the range of otter vocalizations, so perhaps they are otters.

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Download Mystery Calls 0410

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Download Mystery Calls 0442

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Download Mystery Calls 0541

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Morning Birds The birds were quite vocal for several minutes this morning. This clip has Ravens, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and Golden-crowned Kinglets.
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Mystery Chirps: Similar chirps have shown up on several nights, though I’m still not positive what they are. I think they could be from a River Otter (Lontra canadensis), however. Recorded at 03:40. They also showed up at least one other time during the night. Download Mystery Chirps

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Mystery Call: This is a brief clip of an isolated call. My best guess is Western Screech Owl, though I am not sure. Recorded at 02:38. Download Mystery Call

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High Frequency Calls: I’m still trying to work out the differences between the companion/flocking call notes of Golden-crowned Kinglets, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and Brown Creepers. There’s clearly a chickadee in the mix of birds making these, calls, but I suspect there are also kinglets. Recorded at 07:54. Download High Frequency Calls

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Raven Flyover: Eventually I probably won’t find the sound of Ravens cawing as they fly over so interesting to listen to, but for now, they still capture my attention. Recorded at 08:38. Download Raven Flyover