Noisy Corkscrew Swamp Part 2

Back in February of 2009 I posted a short recording from The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples Florida.  I was pretty frustrated with the amount of noise made by humans there; it is an amazing place with great wildlife but the din of vehicular traffic and air traffic can be pretty damn oppressive.

I was digging around in my recordings from that session, hoping to find some more clean material, but it was not to be.  Instead, I found some amazing-sounding birdlife covered with air traffic and some distant cars rumbling on the surrounding roads.  The birdlife is so stunning that I still felt compelled to post the recording, even though it is not one of my best.

I’ll probably be down there again this year, and I hope to get another chance to get some clean recordings without the presence of airplanes and the like.  I would also love it if any bird experts could chime in with some species IDs if they have the time.  I am dying to know what those prehistoric heron sounding things are!

Recording Geek Note:  Rig consists of Schoeps CMC5 setup for MS, with the MK4 as the mid.  It was all tracked to a Sound Devices 744T at 24/96.

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  2. Hey Michael this is what I heard. I will say that it has been a while since I birded on the east coast and I could be wrong with some of these.
    GCFL=Great-crested Flycatcher
    YRWA=yellow-rumped warbler
    BLJA=blue jay distance
    AMRO=american robin
    NH=night-heron species
    EAPH/NOWA/LOWA?=eastern phoebe or northern waterthrush or louisana waterthrush
    amco=american coot
    woodpecker drum
    squirrel
    carw=carolina wren
    bggn=blue-grey gnatcatcher
    jet
    como=common moorhen (loud)
    modo=mourning dove
    That is what I got.

    Reply

  3. Good stuff! Way better than my recordings in the same area…which were dominated by a distant chain saw and assorted traffic. I think it’s tough to get in there early enough in the morning to record without the din of human activity.
    Anyway, I think Elias has most things pinned down. I have some minor additions and alternate suggestions: Great-crested Flycatcher (prominent in first half), Yellow-rumped warbler (call notes) Blue jay (faint), Green Heron (sounds somewhat crow-like), American Robin (faint), Blue-gray gnatcatcher (I think, faint), Barred Owl, Red-shouldered Hawk (faint), Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker (drum & faint call), Eastern Phoebe (I think) (prominent chipping notes) Carolina Chickadee (faint), Carolina Wren (prominent), Mourning Dove, and various prehistoric heron things. It’s been too long since I’ve been in the southeast…I used to know those wader calls pretty well!

    Reply
Michael Raphael October 27, 2009
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