Travel over 2,000 miles during spring bird migration 2019 with project lead Dr. Jacob Job and audio producer Jacqueline Van Meter to examine the mutual challenges that migratory birds and humans face due to human activity on the planet. 'Voices of a Flyway' stimulates active, mindful listening to nature, reintroduces us to the species and places of our past, deepens our connection to the natural world, and heals our collective mindset about our place within it. 

To learn more about the project, visit www.voicesofaflyway.com/explore to start exploring our 6 interactive story maps that feature more of the stories, photos, and videos of the project!

Voices of a Flyway

Listen to calls and songs of birds during a late spring snowstorm on May 16, 2021.

East Troublesome Fire Burn Site 1. West side of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Recordings were collected for research purposes with written permission and permits from the park.

Bird Song in Snowfall -- Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, U.S.A.

Costa Rica's rainforests are lively and active at night, even if it might not seem like it. A night walk in the jungle will reveal countless creatures going about their business - hunting or trying to avoid hunters, looking for food and sometimes searching for a mate. Longer version at https://youtu.be/hl7LaTWnDYA

Night in the jungles of Costa Rica

How to FLIRT

The clear "peep" notes in the beginning of the track are the Swainson's Thrush nocturnal call notes and then the bird starts singing its flutey, upward spiraling song. This was recorded on a Songmeter on the lands of the Poplar River First Nation in the Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Site. Find out more here:  https://pimaki.ca/

Swainson's Thrush Nocturnal Call Notes In Song - Poplar River Manitoba - S4A01761 20160608 050002

This is a Whip-poor-will singing from quite close to the microphone and one or more Whip-poor-will's in the background as well. Recorded using a Songmeter SM4 deployed along the Poplar River in Manitoba in the territory of the Poplar River First Nation. This is an area protected by the Poplar River First Nation and is part of the Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Site. You can find out more about Pimachiowin Aki here: https://pimaki.ca/

Wonderful Whip-Poor-Will Sequence -Poplar River-Manitoba -Jul1-2018-S4A01732 20180701 224802

It's an overcast morning at a clearing deep in the Harenna forest. Wildlife has been up for hours and the dawn chorus is in full swing. Gigantic hornbills fly around, their harsh feathers sounding like miniature aircraft when gliding. 

Recorded in the beautiful Harenna Forest just south of Bale Mountains National Park in Ethiopia. Technical details: Sony PCM D10 and Lom MikroUsi microphones left out for 48 hours as drop rig. Longer version on my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/rtVT5KKViN4

Ethiopian Cloud Forest - Dawn Chorus With Hornbills And Colobus Monkeys

Episode 1: An introduction to 'Voices of a Flyway', setting the stage for what to expect on our 2.5 month, 2,000 mile journey.

To learn more about the project, visit www.voicesofaflyway.com/explore to start exploring our 6 interactive story maps that feature more of the stories, photos, and videos of the project!

Funded by an Explorer grant from National Geographic, our team - a soundscape recordist, an audio producer, and a wildlife photographer - traveled from the Louisiana coastline to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota with the 2019 spring songbird migration. We visited six at-risk ecosystems along the route to uncover:  

 1. Why each of these delicate ecosystems is so critical to bird migration.
     
2. The infinite ways that people living in these areas share connections to the natural world. 

3. What stands to be lost as these ecosystems vanish?

'Voices of a Flyway' Episode 1: Introduction

Episode 2: In this episode, our journey on the road begins, with a story of convergence. Many are heading north, some, like us, have headed south, but we’re all meeting for the very first time on the northern shores of the Gulf of Mexico. A coast that is quickly vanishing into the sea.

To learn more about the project, visit www.voicesofaflyway.com/explore to start exploring our 6 interactive story maps that feature more of the stories, photos, and videos of the project!

Funded by an Explorer grant from National Geographic, our team - a soundscape recordist, an audio producer, and a wildlife photographer - traveled from the Louisiana coastline to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota with the 2019 spring songbird migration. We visited six at-risk ecosystems along the route to uncover:

1. Why each of these delicate ecosystems is so critical to bird migration.

2. The infinite ways that people living in these areas share connections to the natural world.

3. What stands to be lost as these ecosystems vanish?

'Voices of a Flyway' Episode 2: The Coastal Wetlands

Episode 3: In this episode, we climb up into the pines of Central Louisiana. We’ve seen on the coast how big industry can end up dominating an ecosystem. Here, we look at three communities embroiled in their own fights to survive. To find out what it means to partner with the big industry on your doorstep, OR, to oppose it head on.

To learn more about the project, visit www.voicesofaflyway.com/explore to start exploring our 6 interactive story maps that feature more of the stories, photos, and videos of the project!

Funded by an Explorer grant from National Geographic, our team - a soundscape recordist, an audio producer, and a wildlife photographer - traveled from the Louisiana coastline to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota with the 2019 spring songbird migration. We visited six at-risk ecosystems along the route to uncover:

1. Why each of these delicate ecosystems is so critical to bird migration.

2. The infinite ways that people living in these areas share connections to the natural world.

3. What stands to be lost as these ecosystems vanish?

'Voices of a Flyway' Episode 3: The Piney Woods

Episode 4: In this episode, we take our first look at modern agriculture on this Flyway. Timber companies in North Louisiana and Eastern Arkansas, like we’ve seen before, clear cut trees all the way off the landscape here, but this time they put something ...entirely different in its place. We’ll get a rare glimpse inside the forgotten forests that covered this place before farm country was farm country. We’ll meet the farm families who became the custodians of a new land of soy and corn. And discover how farming’s evolution into yet another one of America’s billion dollar industries has taken a different kind of toll on community in the heartland.

To learn more about the project, visit www.voicesofaflyway.com/explore to start exploring our 6 interactive story maps that feature more of the stories, photos, and videos of the project!

Funded by an Explorer grant from National Geographic, our team - a soundscape recordist, an audio producer, and a wildlife photographer - traveled from the Louisiana coastline to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota with the 2019 spring songbird migration. We visited six at-risk ecosystems along the route to uncover:

1. Why each of these delicate ecosystems is so critical to bird migration.

2. The infinite ways that people living in these areas share connections to the natural world.

3. What stands to be lost as these ecosystems vanish?

'Voices of a Flyway' Episode 4: The Bottomland Forests

Episode 5: In this episode, we head to higher ground to explore the Mississippi Flyway’s biggest urban centers. What does it mean for birds when hundreds of thousands humans congregate on once densely forested landscape? What does it mean for people to have a relationship with the ecosystem when they’re living a life that’s “urbanized”? Turns out, the barriers of access to the natural world are many. We’re looking at how folks, in spite of the odds, are trying to get past them. And what can happen….. if they make it to the other side.

To learn more about the project, visit www.voicesofaflyway.com/explore to start exploring our 6 interactive story maps that feature more of the stories, photos, and videos of the project!

Funded by an Explorer grant from National Geographic, our team - a soundscape recordist, an audio producer, and a wildlife photographer - traveled from the Louisiana coastline to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota with the 2019 spring songbird migration. We visited six at-risk ecosystems along the route to uncover:

1. Why each of these delicate ecosystems is so critical to bird migration.

2. The infinite ways that people living in these areas share connections to the natural world.

3. What stands to be lost as these ecosystems vanish?

'Voices of a Flyway Episode 5: The Upland Deciduous Forests

Episode 7: In this episode, we go inside a place altogether different than anything we’ve seen before. An ecosystem ... still intact. Where true wildness and untold value, still remains. In these North Woods that grow at the source if it all, there’s a chance to do things differently. And we …. have a collective decision to make. What can we learn from our wildest remaining place? And will we learn the lessons from the places we’ve seen, and protect what’s here before it goes the way they have?

To learn more about the project, visit www.voicesofaflyway.com/explore to start exploring our 6 interactive story maps that feature more of the stories, photos, and videos of the project!

Funded by an Explorer grant from National Geographic, our team - a soundscape recordist, an audio producer, and a wildlife photographer - traveled from the Louisiana coastline to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota with the 2019 spring songbird migration. We visited six at-risk ecosystems along the route to uncover:

1. Why each of these delicate ecosystems is so critical to bird migration.

2. The infinite ways that people living in these areas share connections to the natural world.

3. What stands to be lost as these ecosystems vanish?

'Voices of a Flyway' Episode 7: The Boreal Forest

This is my favorite recording from my 5 day camping trip on the Chattooga River in South Carolina. 

I woke up around 5am this morning to the first bird call of the dawn chorus. I quickly and quietly got out of my sleeping bag and setup my Sony D100 on a tripod and began recording. 

This recording is the highlight from a longer, 60 minute recording. I love the natural reverb effect from the birds calling across the open river. 

Thank you for taking the time to read and listen ☺

Check out my website for more: www.acousticnature.com

Dawn Chorus on a River | Sony D100 Field Recording

Summer 2020 Ambient Field Recordings done during the age of continued COVID-19 pandemic social distancing and isolation. In and around Laramie, Wyoming, U.S.A.

Equipment: Zoom H4n Pro with LOM mikroUsi microphones.

Snowy Range Mountain Creek On North Fork Trail

This is one of my favorite recordings from my recent camping trip on the Chattooga River.

I went down to the edge of the river during dusk and setup my Sony D100 on a tripod. I then went back to camp, ate dinner and relaxed as I listened to the transition of day to night. 

My favorite part of this recording are all the jumping and splashing fish. I also enjoy the closeup calls of bull frogs and green frogs. 

Thank you for listening ♫

Please checkout my website at www.acousticnature.com to read my articles about field recording :)

Dusk on the Chattooga | Jumping Fish, Frogs & Birds [Sony D100]

A recording from central New York State (North America)of thousands of night migrating birds on the night of September 11-12, 2020. The most common calls are from 12+ species of wood warblers, Rose-breasted Grosbeak & Swainson's Thrush -  most all headed to Caribbean Islands, southern Mexico or Central & South America for the winter. The 6+ hour recording began at 9:45pm EDT. To hear the intricacies, crank the volume. WARNING FOR HEADPHONE LISTENERS: There are a few instances of very loud bird calls (ex. flock of Green Herons passing over at 0:01:45 - one minute 45 seconds into recording. Adjust your headphone listening level on this section before proceeding).

I made this recording using an "Old Bird 21c" microphone mounted on a 2.5 meter wood tower in the middle of a hay field. It contains the densest dark terrain (no artificial light), non-coastal, avian nocturnal flight call rate I have documented in 30+ years of monitoring such calls in North America. The original audio submitted to SoundCloud was a mono wav file, 22050 sampling rate, 16 bit resolution.

The artwork is by Cheryl Chalmers (c) 2011, and depicts her kids listening to night migrating birds through a roof-mounted "flowerpot"  microphone in Trumansburg, NY.

Special thanks to Cathy & Frank Darrow for hosting the recording station in their Danby, NY hayfield, and to Herb Susmann of Nature Sound Electronics for superb S/N in the microphone electronics.

Big Migration Night

Travel over 2,000 miles during spring bird migration 2019 with project lead Dr. Jacob Job and audio producer Jacqueline Van Meter to examine the mutual challenges that migratory birds and humans face due to human activity on the planet. 'Voices of a Flyway' stimulates active, mindful listening to nature, reintroduces us to the species and places of our past, deepens our connection to the natural world, and heals our collective mindset about our place within it. 

Project lead Dr. Job is a conservationist, science communicator, natural sounds recordist, National Geographic Explorer, and bird watcher. He travels the country and world, documenting the sounds of nature in our nation's most treasured lands, building connections between people and these places, and working to advocate for their protection.

'Voices of a Flyway' Episode 7: The Boreal Forest

Gavia immer

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