ML455555221
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age and sex
- Adult Male - 1
- Sounds
- Song
- Playback
- Not specified
Media notes
Recorded using a parabolic dish and a digital recorder.
Observation details
This bird was found this morning at 0742 hrs., by James Flynn who reported it to Jerry McWilliams, who announced it to the local birding community via e-mail. Here is what Jerry communicated: "Jim Flynn reports a singing Western Meadowlark at Howard Eaton Reservoir in Erie Co., Pa. as I write this. It is at the NW corner of the lake along Black Rd. Coordinates are 42.1586909 -79.7850494' The bird is constantly singing. I could even hear it through his phone when he called me." When I [James Hill] arrived at the exact location at 10:30 am [going north on Black Road just past the main parking lot on the reservoir, it is the first road to the right which leads to a small gravel parking lot and a locked gate at a trailhead], the bird was still singing loudly all around this parking lot. It was singing from the tops of medium-sized maple trees, from the utility wires, and from the tops of other trees. There was grassland/hayfield habitat adjacent. It was quite windy. I managed to get these voucher photos and make a recording with a parabolic dish despite the wind noise. To record it, I used a Telinga parabolic dish with a Sennheiser MKH-20 microphone connected to a Sound Devices' MixPre-3 digital recorder. Sound editing was done using Audacity. Much thanks to Jim Flynn and Jerry McWilliams. This is only the second Erie County, PA, record of a Western Meadowlark. [Update: We now know that Sue Murowski and Tim Lyons voice recorded the Western Meadowlark on May 24, 2022, in this exact location.]
Technical information
- Recorder
- Sound Devices' MixPre-3
- Microphone
- Sennheiser MKH-20
- Accessories
- Telinga Parabolic Dish
- Original file size
- 14.61 MB