The Goose and The Odd Call

Barnacle Goose - Rogers St., West Newbury - Nov. 14, 2011

A visit to Rogers Street on the morning of the 14th found the Barnacle Goose feeding in the field across from the Artichoke Dairy. It ranged all over the field during my 2 1/2 hour stay and allowed for shots of it with one of the 5 Snow Geese that recently joined the flock.

and a dark fronted Goose that appears to be a good candidate for "Dusky?" Canada Goose, seen in the top center below.

Left of the Barnacle Goose below.

and again, left of the Barnacle Goose.

Odd Call and the Subsequent ID - Nov. 13, 2011

The morning of Sunday the 14 found me out the door at 5:55am heading off to meet my nephew for a bit of "hawking". I only made it as far as the car when I heard a loud call from the nearby edge of the woods. A sharp single note, something that I hadn't heard before!

I headed off in the direction of the call, minus my binoculars, it was still pretty dark, but with my IPhone in hand hoping to record the call. A few minutes later the, at least 2, birds moved off leaving me scratching my head to their identity.

Here's a shortened version of the recording to point out which call got my attention. Odd Call 11-13-11 short

and the 1 1/2 minute recording with several White-throated Sparrows and a Hermit Thrush "chucking" in the background. Odd call 11-13-11 long

After puzzling over this for a day and consulting with friends I sent it off to Jeremiah Trimle, e-birder extraordinaire and Curatorial Associate - Ornithology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University who replied in very short order. Hermit Thrush, no not some rare bird like I hoped for but just as exciting, for me at least, a new call, a new piece to the puzzle and information shared within this great community we call MassBird.

Jeremiah also sent along a fabulous resource for bird calls that certainly made it into my bookmarks and will be visited often http://www.xeno-canto.org/ Thanks Jeremiah!

On a technology note, being in my mid 50's and having tried at least a dozen different recording devices over the years I find my recent purchase of an IPhone 4S and the Audio Memo app nothing but spectacular. Non of the previously acquired devices come close to the quality and ease of use this little phone that will always be with me attains.... Just sayin'.....:)