ML449964791
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Observation details
Coordinates: 29.25145, -103.29931. Very distant. Audio recordings taken. While the quality is pretty terrible, they support the identification. I have uploaded three versions of the same audio recording and then 2 versions of a different audio recording. In the first recording, one file has only been normalized to -1 db. The hiss of the background noise and the hoots of the owl are difficult to hear as there's not much contrast between the two. In a second version of the audio, I've applied an aggressive high pass filter of 750 Hz. While much stronger than I would normally apply, that value helped to hear the hoots of the owl. In the final version of the audio, I then applied an additional noise reduction filter on top of the high pass filter. This audio is the easiest to hear the owl, but the distortion is also quite noticeable. In all recordings, the owl can be heard calling at 7, 14, 17, 23, and 30 seconds. In the second recording, I uploaded a version with a 750 Hz high pass filter applied. I then uploaded a second version of that file with 10 dB of noise reduction. One thing that slightly bothered me… As I heard the owl in real time, and in my recordings, the calls seemed just a little higher pitched than what I remember from my limited experience with the species and what I find in most of the recordings in apps and online. But, I came across one recording in the Macaulay Library that seems a perfect match for what I’ve recorded. It’s just a little bit higher pitched too, just like mine: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/367454251. Finally, I should note the conditions in which I heard and recorded the bird. I had hiked up Pinnacles Trail in darkness from my backcountry campsite at Pinnacles 1 using a headlight. There was a bit of moonlight (not sure of the technical term, but it was at best a quarter moon), but not much to see by and not much illumination in the forest. I neared the top of the Pinnacles Trail as the slighest bit of dawn approached. It was still nighttime, but if one looked to the east (towards Casa Grande and Toll Mountain), the tops of the mountains were illuminated ever so slightly in the night sky. I heard this owl calling from the east, across the forested valley towards the sheer cliff faces of Toll Mountain. The timestamp on the recording I've uploaded was 6:21 am. The night was perfectly still with no wind. Otherwise, I undoubtedly would never have detected the bird nor obtained a recording. The bird vocalized for a few minutes and then, as the faintest gray light of dawn approached, went completely silent. I considered other species, especially Band-tailed Pigeon. What I heard and recorded was not consistent with that species, and in particular, I would have expected that species to continue and even increase its vocalizations as dawn began rather than going completely quiet. The calls were also not a match for Northern Saw-whet Owl, Northern Pygmy Owl, Western Screech-Owl, or even Elf Owl (which isn't expected this high), nor were they a match for Mexican Whip-poor-will.
Technical information
- Recorder
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 4.65 MB