ML187016281
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
- Sounds
- Call
- Playback
- Not specified
Media notes
blackbird-like "chup" calls of WEME given from atop a tree.
Observation details
****very rare to somewhat mega, with no apparent prior Long Island records, though November records of this species do exist in the northeast. While walking towards the gazebo from soundwatching I heard what I could only could describe in the moment as an "unfamiliar noise." Initially I thought it had to be some sort of weird blackbird call or perhaps an odd mockingbird or starling. As I approached it, much to my knee-jerk confusion, I discovered it was a meadowlark. The bird immediately flushed from atop a low Juniper, into some taller trees, instantly obscured by the gazebo. During this time it was still calling constantly; a low, blackbird-like, husky sort of "chup!" Running to the other side of the gazebo I was able to observe the bird perched atop a tree, where it continued to vocalize. At this point I knew this call was totally outside the realm of Eastern Meadowlark and so thought that this vocalization was potentially that of a Western Meadowlark. To check, I briefly played the call on the Sibley app which matched(!) and so I started recording its call with my iPhone. I still hadn't actually seen the bird in binoculars yet at this point. Once I got a diagnostic recording of the call, I was able to get it in bins. Looks of the perched bird were brief, but seemed consistent with WEME: the bird was overall very bland and grayish with straw-colored underparts; the face appeared with less contrast than EAME; the yellow on the throat appeared extensive and bled into the malar region; and, when the bird eventually took off towards the south and west, its tail appeared to show less white than I'm used to in EAME. Unfortunately it flew over towards the marsh and efforts to relocate it failed. I did manage to digi-scope it with my iPhone through my binoculars before it flew (not stunning images.) The whole event transpired over a minute and a half or so. accepted by NYSARC.
Technical information
- Recorder
- iPhone 8
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 3.81 MB