Sitka Nature

Another quiet night. The first calls I noticed were not until a little after 5am, when there were a few River Otter chirps. There were more an hour later. A little surprising was a series of Western Screech-owl calls around 7:30am that lasted for a couple of minutes. It was no longer dark at that time, and there had already been some other birds calling. I’ve included 40 seconds or so of it.

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Western Screech-owl: This sounded close enough that it must have been in one of the trees near the house. Recorded at 07:34.
Download Western Screech-owl

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Raven: This is a Raven call variant that I hadn’t recorded yet. These calls went on like this for over 10 minutes, though this clip is not nearly so long.
Download Raven

After looking for the first few hours and only finding some faint River Otter chirps, I thought last night’s recordings would end up being pretty quiet. However, I was excited to find the clearest recording I’ve yet had of what I believe to be a Western Screech Owl. That was a nice highlight for an otherwise quiet night (well, quiet, but for the persistent rain).

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Presusmed Western Screech Owl: These are not the typical ‘bouncing-ball’ calls of the Western Screech Owl, though at the very end of the clip one can be heard faintly. At about 1:30 into the recording, there is a loud, but brief, call from a Bald Eagle. It sounds almost as though the eagle was disturbed by the owl. The owl continued with similar calls for another couple of minutes. I clipped most of these for space considerations, though I did put in the last call with the faint bouncing-ball call. Download Presumed Western Screech Owl

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Red Squirrel Chattering: Listening to this squirrel chattering made me wonder how they can put out so much sound for a sustained period from such a small set of lungs, apparently without breathing. Download Red Squirrel

The last couple of days I didn’t end up with much. The first night was quiet, the other I had some technical difficulties.

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Western Screech Owl: This owl was making some interesting calls, not the typical bouncing-ball calls that are most common associated with Western Screech Owls. Download Western Screech Owl

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Ravens: Two ravens call back and forth as one flies over. Download Ravens

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Red-breasted Nuthatch: Red-breasted Nuthatch calls. Red-breasted Nuthatch

Another rainy night, and several interesting sounds. I picked up screech owls a little before midnight, and again around 1:30am. There were also a few different calls that I am uncertain about, some I have good ideas, others I do not have any idea.

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Western Screech Owl: A screech owl started calling with just single notes before eventually going into the familiar bouncing-ball sequence with a response from a second owl. Download Western Screech Owl

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Mystery Chirps: Although they sound familiar, I am not sure whether these chirps are from a bird or a mammal. It could be a River Otter, or some kind of bird. Recorded at 1:20 am. Download Mystery Chirps

Rhythm: The calls of a distant raven, a small song bird, and dripping water looped to create what seemed an interesting rhythm to me.

Challenge Call: It took me awhile to figure out what this call was most likely from. See if you can guess without looking at the file name.

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Mystery Call: At first I thought this might be a gull, but now I’m thinking probably not. I do not know what it is. Recorded at 01:32. Download Mystery Call

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Whistles: Initially these sounded like a human whistling, but then the extended period over which I heard them (from about 06:20 continuing sporadically until after 07:00) and the varying distances made me think it wasn’t. Subsequent listening has convinced me that it probaly is a person whistling, I’m just not sure why they were out there for so long (perhaps walking a dog?). Download Whistles

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Mystery Call 0702: This very brief call was recorded at 07:02. I do not know what made it, but if I were forced to guess, I would say Varied Thrush. That’s mostly due to the buzzy nature of the call. Download Mystery Call

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High Calls: I’m uncertain whether these are Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Golden-crowned Kinglets, or both. They sometimes travel in mixed flocks, and I’ve had difficulty consistently sorting out the differences in their companion/flock calls. Download High Calls

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Red-breasted Nuthatch: It’s been a good year for Red-breasted Nuthatches around Sitka. It sounds like at least two were in the neighborhood this morning. Download Red-breasted Nuthatch

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Crossbills: I believe these are Red Crossbills, but there’s a chance they could be White-winged Crossbills. Their flight calls are different, but I’ve not yet learned how to distinguish them consistently. Download Crossbills