audio – Sitka Nature

Download Radio Show The March 23rd show featured a conversation with returning guest Zach LaPerriere. He shared about the process of selecting, permitting and cutting a standing dead cedar that he recently harvested to use for building benches. We also spoke more generally about cedars and some of the remarkable ones we’ve observed during our ... Read more

Overcast with a little bit of rain, but not as much as I might have guessed from the forecast. Looking at the radar imagery, it appeared to be falling more heavily elsewhere in the general area. Breezy out of the southeast. I went to Totem Park this morning around 9:30am. The tide was falling from ... Read more

A bit breezy, some rain and mid-40s. Snow level rose above 2500 ft. We probably are now past mountain snow maximum for the year. As I've been noticing since the herring spawned, many ravens were out on the beach and others throughout the forest were quite vocal. I spent a few minutes recording some of their calls today.

Download Mystery Call Around 2:45am today while I was out photographing a timelapse of noctilucent clouds, I heard a bird song that I did not recognize. Although I heard it sing twice. In a perhaps unrelated event, shortly afterwards, I saw a bird that gave me the impression of a shorebird (perhaps snipe-sized, but less ... Read more

Download Clip This morning I took a little time to check things out at Starrigavan. I didn’t spend much time looking, but did see a flock of shorebirds out on the flats near the water (the tide was out pretty far with a -1 tide predicted for this morning). I came back in and took ... Read more

Late October Anna’s Hummingbird silhouetted against a bright sky For over a year now, Anna’s Hummingbirds seem to have been continuously present in at least some Sitka neighborhoods. They are easier to overlook when plenty of Rufous Hummingbirds are keeping the feeders busy, but as the more abundant species returns south, it becomes clear that ... Read more

Mystery Bird Song (right click to download) I recorded this song in the neighborhood this morning, but was not able to see the bird (it seemed to be hanging out in a patch of trees, first in a large alder, then in some nearby conifers). I heard it still singing later in the morning and ... Read more

Download Common Yellowthroat Song I heard an unfamiliar bird singing down at Swan Lake today, that I thought might be a Common Yellowthroat. I was able to get a recording and photo to confirm. Although this species has been reported in Sitka several times during migration, it is not seen most years.

Download Clip Download Clip Today I heard an odd song coming from the trees and bushes on the slope behind the fire station. It started out like an Orange-crowned Warbler, but quickly veered off into unfamiliar (to me) territory. I was able to get recordings of it, but was never able to get more the ... Read more

Download Audio Download Audio I was sent a short clip of a strange sounding bird that had been recorded along Thimbleberry Lake trail. I was told the bird had been calling in the same area for a few weeks. It was a faint recording, but what I heard sounded sound-wise very much like a Varied ... Read more

20120616_mystery_bird clip 1 20120616_mystery_bird clip 2 At the start of a hike up Indian River Trail (to the falls – first time I’ve done that in 3 or 4 years – which was sort of hard to believe) I heard a different sounding bird song. I couldn’t decide if it was something familiar with a ... Read more

20120415_SOSP_Etolin_Street_Donnelly_Yard-3 I went for a walk this morning and saw some Song Sparrows getting in to it along Etolin Street. The recording above is one singing in the Donnelley’s yard, it had been trading songs with another one across the street. I even saw them have a brief physical skirmish sort of in the middle ... Read more

Today Rowan told me she wanted to tell the story of finding a starry flounder last spring. She said it was okay if I recorded her (which is unusual – as many times she is shy about being recorded). After catching the fish Connor and Rowan brought it up to the house for me to ... Read more

20110505_RBSA_Lincoln_Street_Drumming.mp3 Been pretty swamped with work and house issues, but have made a little time to go look for spring migrants. This morning on the way back from Totem Park (where there are still lots of shorebirds) I recorded this short clip of a Red-breasted Sapsucker drumming on a metal roof.

Download Audio While visiting Low Island recently, I was able to observe and record this Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) singing. It sounded a bit different than the sparrows I’ve been hearing around town – I guess I should try to record some of them for comparison. Brant (Branta bernicla) and Black Turnstones (Arenaria melanocephala) can ... Read more

[Note: the notes here are based on photos and vague memories from years later, as these photos languished a long time before being published.] I was up before 3am with some hope of catching the dawn chorus. I did some recording at multiple locations, but also became distracted by the setting full moon, capturing it ... Read more

Yellow Warbler Singing Recently I have been asking people if they have seen any Yellow Warblers this spring. While not an especially common species along the road system in Sitka (mostly due to lack of preferred habitat, I suspect), in many years they are show up around the first week of May. However, this year ... Read more

A clear, calm day with warm (for a sunny winter day) temperatures into the 40s prompted Kitty and I to get out on a boat ride including going through Port Krestof to Krestof Sound and then into Nakwasina. We also made a stop in Katlian Bay, so I could check out some rock outcrops I ... Read more

03-15-07song_sparrow.mp3 (624kb) As I headed out of the building where my office is, I heard a Song Sparrow singing from the bushes near the entrance. Hearing the song, I stopped to listen for a short time. The bird was perched in a low bush very close to a drainspout. The melting snow from the roof ... Read more

Swainson’s Thrush Singing (465kb mp3) Weather: Saturday morning it was foggy, but the fog started to break up in the late morning. Sunday it rained throughout the day with low clouds. Birds: It seemed like the birds were singing more on Sunday. I am not sure if that had something to do with the bird’s ... Read more

Winter Wren Singing (mp3) The day dawned clear and cool. There was frost on the ground and very little breeze; what there was came out of the North and was enough to cause my exhaled breath to drift, but even the lightest branches were not moving discernably. The Northern Flicker was back this morning before ... Read more