The Joy of Late Spring; The VisMig Files #1

In this simple episode, I have a wonderful sound magazine to share, featuring some of my favourite species. Late May is an incredible time to field record, with most species having returned to breeding territory all over Scandinavia. As a result the natural soundscape is in full flow and the natural environment is flooded with the sounds and songs of a host of wild bird species. Some of these are widespread here in Sweden, whilst others took time and patience to track down and record. At time, one has to get out of your comfort zone and get  out in darkness, in order to record those elusive night singing species. The dawn chorus is quite incredible at this time of the year and there is so much to get out and listen to in a period of just a few short weeks!
 The episode also features the first of many educational segments concerning diurnal migration. The VisMig Files, as they will be called, will focus on the various calls of diurnally migrating birds. In this episode, I focus on two classic autumnal migrant species and play a number of recordings of both....

Transcript

  📍  

Now, welcome everybody to Wild Bird Acoustics. I'm your host, Alan Dalton, and I'll be taking you on a journey into sound.    

Welcome once again to Wild Bird Acoustics. And in this episode, I have some lovely audio for you. We're going to be delving into late spring, a fantastic period here in Sweden. And a little bit later, we're going to have our first ever official Vismig Files magazine.   

 Now visible migration is something I want to concentrate a lot on going forward. And it's one of my favorite pastimes here in Sweden. And generally speaking, I just get out in the autumn period quite a lot, leave a recorder out and see what's passing over my head.

And in doing so over the last few years, I've managed to collect some lovely audio of just the passage calls, the contact calls of diurnal migrants as they migrate here.  As they migrate overhead here in Sweden. And I think this will be very educational for a lot of people who want to try this type of boarding. 

For this type of boarding you need a good knowledge of board calls to get the most out of it. And I thought it would be very educational  just to put together a series of sound magazines featuring the contact calls of many of the regular migrants that you get here in Europe.

And Sweden is an excellent place for diurnal migration. 

 

 Now in the VisMig files I've decided that what I'm going to do is concentrate on a couple of species in each magazine and I think in this way we'll be able to just learn the calls of those species rather than mix and match too much and put too many species in kind of a haphazard way into these sale magazines.

So what we'll be able to do is just concentrate and talk about various species and maybe play several recordings so you can get used to the calls and learn them in that way.  

So with that in mind, I've taken a couple of key species and I've decided to concentrate on those today. And we'll get to that a little bit later. 

 This episode will launch on the 1st of May, and as you are listening to it, birds are now flooding back into Europe, and a lot of the later migrants are beginning to show up. And with that in mind, I'm going to play you a lovely sound magazine from the period of late spring. 

 Now May is probably one of the best months to get out into the field sound recording or just to listen to birds. There's so many birds just out in territory singing and everything is vocal in the environment this leads to some wonderful soundscapes and I hope that comes across in this sound magazine.

So without any further ado, we'll get stuck into it straight away. And this is a late spring sound magazine for you to listen to now. I really do hope you all enjoy this. This is Late Spring in Sweden.  

 Now as soon as May arrives in Sweden, a lot of migrants have returned, and this late spring period is one of the absolute best times to be out sound recording here in Sweden. And for me, it's a really busy time of the year, so I like to get out as often as possible. And in this small section, I'm going to share some of my favorite calls from last year.

Now because of the time of year, a lot of these recordings are very, very busy in the background, and where possible, I will try and let you know what's going on in the background. But for now, we'll start with a common species, which is pretty much typical of early summer, late spring. And it's a species well known all over Europe, possibly one of the most iconic singers of all at this time of the year, and that is Common Cuckoo.

Common Cuckoo is widespread here in Sweden, although it has declined quite a bit. You will hear common cuckoo from May onwards. And this bird was recorded in a place called Norra Jorgården, which is very, very close to the city center of Stockholm. On this particular morning, I got up very, very early and I was looking for a wood warbler.

But as I was doing so, the common cuckoo began to call. Now obviously this is an easy species for anybody to identify, but it still is a wonderful, wonderful sound. And in the background here, you will hear Common Blackbird, Grey Tit, Songthrush and Wood Pigeon. So the recording next, here is Common Cuckoo at Norry York Garden in Sweden. 

What? Uh huh. What?  Now in 2022 I had a number of species which I really wanted to record for the first time. Very, very high up the list was Gargony. Now Gargony is a summer migrant and it returns to Sweden around late April and by May they start to display. They're actually quite a secret of species and they can be difficult to record and I decided to make my way to a place called Angarn Reserve which is located north of Stockholm city and it's an excellent site for these birds.

On arrival, the marsh was really, really busy. It took me a while, but eventually I located some Gargony, and as luck would have it, they were courting a female. Now first up, I'll give you a very, very short recording, just so you can get your ear in on the call. And this is a short recording of a male Gargony calling to a female. 

Have a listen. 

So that's the low, croaking call of male gargony, and it almost sounds like an amphibian, a frog or a toad or some such. Now there was two males in the area and one female, and the female was being chased around by both males, but only one of them was particularly vocal. I made a longer recording, and there's quite a lot, as I say, going on in the background.

The marsh was really, really busy. And in the background here, you will hear coot, snipe display, grey legged goose, and also green sandpiper. This recording was taken with the Tlingit parabola, and so I was able to hone in on the male gargony and isolate the sound a little bit. It's a very nice recording, and I very much typify as a good wetland here in spring.

There's so much going on in this recording, which is a little bit longer. So I hope you enjoy this. This is male gargony. 

Now another species I really wanted to record in 2022 was grasshopper warbler and this had proved quite difficult. They're quite local here in Sweden and I just hadn't come across one in a few years. So I was absolutely delighted when I went up to Bråserve on the 22nd of May with the parabola and started recording.

And out of nowhere, a grasshopper appeared. warbler started to reel in a small ditch. I made my way over to the bird quickly and started to record before it went back to ground. Now these warblers are a member of the locust tail family and they're typified by their reeling calls or songs. Now also here in the background, you will hear singing Skylark, calling jackdaw, white throat and also a sedge warbler towards the end of the recording. 

May in Sweden sees the return of one of my absolute favourite species, and that is Ictorian Warbler. Now Ictorian Warblers breed in mature broadleaf forests, and if you can find a nice bit of woodland in May, you will come across them singing. Now the reason I'm so fond of them is their incredible mimics, and possibly behind Marsh Warbler or Blythe's Reed Warbler, they're probably the most accomplished mimics, and they can be quite astounding.

Now, this bird was breeding in a small area of forest at Brough Reserve. It is quite fantastic to listen to this. Now, mimicry is quite an interesting area, and in species like Ictarine Warbler, what the males do is, they quite often serve as an echo chamber for the surrounding environment. So what they do is, they incorporate the songs and calls of other species in their own songs.

So here, for example, the bird will start with an excellent rendition of Black Woodpecker. As it goes on, you will hear the calls represented in its song of Blackbird, Sedge Warbler, Calling Jackdaw, Calling You Feel Fair Alarm, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Missile Thrush Flight Call, Starling Song, and also Songthrush Song.

It's quite amazing to listen to really, and I never tired of it. Also in the background here singing themselves are Blue Tit, Wood Pigeon, Tree Pippet, Goldfinch. Rhineck and Ringneck to Pheasant. Now this is recorded with a Talinga parabola and it's an amazing piece of kit for isolating individual singers.

It actually amplifies the song and also helps to isolate the target so it's one of my go to pieces of kit. It is perhaps a little expensive but, but I've had mine now for over 12 years and it really has served me well. It leads to really wonderful recordings. So this is Yggdrasil Warbler in full song at Bro Reserve in Sweden.

Um, 

Save the data. Get data. Get data. Save data.  Tuk tuk tuk! Tuk tuk tuk! Tuk tuk tuk! 

What is this? 

Now so far we've had songs from passerines and a duck species, but also may you get waders breeding here in Sweden. And one of the species I had targeted for 2022 were Little Ring Plover, and I was delighted to come across this pair of displaying birds on the 24th of April at Norra Järvefeltet, just north of Stockholm city.

On this occasion, I used my binaural recorder. and put it down close to the birds, and although it was raining a little bit, the birds eventually approached the recorder and began to display. In the background here you can hear Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Wood Pigeon. 

Now Brough Reserve north of Stockholm City on the 22nd of May was a new recording venue for me and I tried to do that quite a bit in 2022 which was get into new areas and new habitats and see what happens. On this occasion you will hear a very close up recording and the species involved is a sedge warbler.

The bird is in full song at very close range. Again, this is recorded with a Tlingit parabola. In the background you will hear blue tit. ring necked pheasant, singing reed bunting, and also singing Skylark. Again, this is a few minutes long, but because it's such a close up recording, I'm going to let it run for a while.

So sit back and relax, and enjoy the sound of Sedge Warbler in full song. 

Now we're going to take a trip back to Angern Reserve north of Stockholm City for another duck species and on this occasion it's Northern Shoveler. Now again, on the same day that I recorded Gargany, I was looking for Northern Shoveler in display, and it's a display that I had wanted to record for some time.

Again, I was lucky on this occasion, there were two males and a female in the area yet again, and the male shoveler was actually chasing a female around, calling constantly. Now in this recording you will hear the shoveler as a deep guttural call. It's quite a long recording this, and there's a lot going on in the background.

As I've already mentioned, wetlands in May are extremely busy places here in Sweden. And in the background you will hear calling mallard, grey legged goose. The display of Lapwing, Snipe displaying overhead, Meadow Pippet, Calling Male Gargony and also Calling Yellow Wagtail. So a lot to take in here, but it really does make for an absolutely fantastic soundscape.

This is Northern Shoveler in full display at Angarn Reserve in Sweden. 

Okay. Yeah. Oh 

Uh huh. 

Now, at the time I recorded this next recording, this was also a new species for me. I made an effort to go to Augusta Reserve in order to secure a decent recording of a night singing species, and that species is Spotted Crake. I found one bird just after dusk as it began to call. I did get some lovely recordings of that bird, but it was only later in the night when it was quite dark, as I was returning to the car park, that I came across another displaying bird.

This one was closer to the main road, but things were very quiet at this stage and there was no traffic. The bird was extremely close to me displaying in long grass and sedges, and I got a remarkable recording with very little background noise. So today this is definitely my clearest recording of a spotted crake.

So this is Spotted Crake in display at night at Augusta Reserve, south of Stockholm City. 

Now spring here in Sweden wouldn't be the same without the song of Thrush Nightingale, and they are very, very widespread. And I found this bird singing on the 22nd of May at Brough Reserve, in the middle of the day.  I'm quite sure it returned quite recently, as it hadn't been reported in the previous couple of days.

But I found the bird in a thicket of Blackthorn, a pretty typical habitat for the species.  Also in the background here you will hear the song of Willow Warbler, Ictarine Warbler, Wood Pigeon, Distant Grey Lag Goose, a Blue Tit and some nearby Common Tern.  This site was quite educational for me actually and, and I decided after this that the more new venues I get into the better, and this will give me a wider range of species, and it just leads to a nice bit of variation for field recording.

So this is Thrush Nightingale in full song at Bro Reserve in Sweden. 

Now I have one more recording to share with you from the late spring period last year and on this occasion I went to a place called Toro. Now Toro is situated just south of a small village called Nynäsam, which is due south of Stockholm city. And the habitat there is just sandy, low pine forest, but it's excellent for a couple of species.

And one of these is tree pippet. I went out there on the 8th of May and eventually, early in the morning, I found this lovely tree pipit singing and it made for a beautiful recording as there was absolutely no noise in the area. So this is the tree pipit in full song at Toro, Sweden. 

So there you go folks, there's a selection of recordings from the late spring period here in Sweden. I will say that each year it seems to go by quicker and quicker, that period of May and early June, when there's so much going on and I always find myself kind of Where do I go? What do I concentrate on?

What kind of habitats should I seek out? But it's just one of those things. You need to get out there and make the most of this time of the year because there's just so much going on. As you will hear in many of those recordings, it's just an incredible soundscape here in Sweden and there's so many species to choose from.

There's nothing better than just simply getting out into a bit of habitat and walking around and seeing what you come across. Over the years, I've found this a very, very nice way to just spend a few hours or half a day or even a full day. As a general rule, the best time is early in the morning before there's too many people around or too much traffic.

But happily here in Sweden, this can be mitigated if you get out into the middle of nowhere, where noise is at a minimum. However, it should be noted that even in urban environments, if you get out at night or early in the morning, you will often be surprised at just how quiet this time can be, and it offers a great opportunity for the sound recordist. 

So once again, take full advantage of late spring and get out as much as you can. I hope you've enjoyed these recordings. I know I certainly enjoyed getting out there to make them. 

 So there you go folks that was late spring in Sweden and that featured some of my favorite species here in Sweden to record at this time of the year. And if you're listening to that I hope it just whets your appetite to get out into the field and enjoy the sounds of late spring. It really is a fantastic time to be out in the field and there's so much going on no matter what part of Europe you may live in. 

 Now, as this episode airs, I'm actually very, very busy. I'm in the field a lot at the moment, and I'm collecting a lot of new audio for season two already. And that will come to you at some stage next year. So something to look forward to. For the moment, it's back to season one. And as mentioned earlier in the episode,  we're now going to move to the VisMig files. And this is the first in a series of VisMig Files magazines 

 These magazines will focus on the contact calls and calls of actively migrating diurnal migrants, mainly in autumn.  And as mentioned earlier, I'm going to try and concentrate on a number of species in each magazine so as not to confuse the issue too much and allow people to concentrate on learning the calls of regular migrant species. 

 Now if you want to try visible migration watching you need to find a good site The best way to do this is probably to ask around your local boarding community and find out if there's any well known sites for visible migration near you.

And that would be an excellent place to start. Once you have your site chosen, you can go there regularly. And the nice thing about it is it depends on the time of year, weather, and so on, as to how many boards you get going over on any given morning. And the early morning is by far the best time of day to do this.

 As I've already mentioned, the time of year is crucial,  so late August, for example, is excellent for tree pippets and yellow wagtails and other early season migrants. Whilst later in the autumn is better for thrushes, buntings and a lot of other species.

Sometimes large movements of things like wood pigeon. But quite often it can be quite spectacular if you get a good day of passage and it can lead to some unforgettable experiences. 

I hope this will actually encourage a few people to get out into the fields and try watching for diurnal migration and it really is a wonderful way to spend the morning. It's very, very educational and you can learn an awful lot. 

 It is vital to have a reasonable knowledge of bird calls, but one of the best ways to learn these is actually to get out into the field and have a look at what's going by, what's passing overhead at your local sites in autumn. 

I can guarantee you that after just a few sessions, you will start to learn the common calls of many species. 

And before long, you'll be picking up calls of other species as well.  I recommend as well, if you have a recorder, to leave it running close by so that possibly if you have something go overhead that you cannot identify, you can go back in later and check the audio and possibly identify the bird after the fact. 

 The other big advantage of having a recorder running is that you can go in later and edit out calls of common species  that you have had that morning. And you can listen to them again over and over and learn everything slowly and methodically. And also in the process, build up your own library of diurnally migrating bird calls. 

 If you are a local patch worker, I recommend this method of boarding. It's fantastic for adding species to your annual list. And quite often you will get species going over scarce or rare species 

and it will certainly bump your annual list and your patch list. So it really is well worth the effort from that point of view. And apart from anything else, it's extremely. enjoyable  and I will warn you more than a little addictive.

It's a fantastic way to actually get out bird watch and experience the joys of autumnal migration. 

 Now, enough talk, I think we'll play the first sound magazine, the VisMig files, and I think the two species featured here will be of great help to many boarders. So, we'll have a listen to that now. This is the VisMig files. 

  Now, welcome all to the very first VisMig files. And in this section, which it's taken me a little bit of time to get around to doing this, actually,  but going back a couple of years, when I first started to think about maybe doing a podcast, one of my first ideas was for a section dealing with visible migration.

And the reason for that is I do an awful lot of VisMig watching,  basically sitting at coastal sites and migration funnels. And just watching migrants flying over in the autumn, especially it kind of feeds into, you know, field recording as well as, you know, birds go over on migration. They're very, very vocal.

A lot of the time, it's a lot of contact calls given, and you can learn these fly calls very, very quickly. And what I wanted to do was have a section where I could play some of that audio as I generally have a recorder running whenever I am out watching visible migration.  And that means I have a lot of audio of a lot of species. 

What I think I'll do today is concentrate on. two or three of the regular species here in Sweden.  Now you can get out and witness visible migration in the spring as well, but autumn is better. And the reason for that is spring migration is generally over a broader frontier in Sweden. And in the autumn, there's more birds as well.

So numbers are boosted by large numbers of juvenile birds or birds that have been born that year. And especially if there's a southwesterly or westerly kind of breeze. You'll get a lot of birds pushed onto the coast of Sweden, you know, along the Baltic coast. And that leads to a kind of funneling effect. 

So winds with a kind of westerly element will push birds onto the coastline and they tend not to go out over the sea. So when they get to the sea, they tend to hook the coast. And this creates a kind of funnel or a bottleneck and concentrates migration. And if you get yourself into the right position, you can have a wonderful time just sitting, watching birds coming to you and going over your head calling. 

The first species I'm going to deal with today is one of my favorites and that is Brambling. Now Brambling is a species of Finch. It's very closely related to Chaffinch. So it breeds in the kind of Scandinavian taiga and,  and it breeds there in very large numbers. And in the autumn, they move south in large numbers, often in small flocks, and at some places in Sweden, like Falsterbo, you can count massive amounts of birds, maybe up to 200, 000 on a good day. 

Now the species generally starts to come through in September, and it peaks in October, and it's a very, very common species here on migration in Sweden, and it has a lovely nasal call, which is very, very distinctive. And I'm going to run through some audio, which you know of, rambling.  Now I'm going to start with a recording from Lansard.

It was recorded on the 4th of October, 2023.  And this is a single bird passing over my listening station on the island. So just a typical nasal call here. 

So that's the typical nasal call of Brambling. And that is the one that will generally draw your attention. But they also give another call, and it's kind of a, a contact call, not unlike the flight call of, say, Common Limit. And this is actually a very good call to learn also. Chaffinch make a very similar call, but it's actually slightly different.

And it's quite easy to learn the difference. Between the two. So in this recording now, at the beginning, you will hear these kind of dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip calls. And these are contact calls. And you will also then hear a long series of nasal calls. And again, towards the end, the contact call. In the background is a few chaffinch calling from the woods.

But we will concentrate on the words in the foreground. And you will hear typical calls, the nasal calls once again of brambling. 

Repetition is probably the best way to learn bird calls. So what I'll do is I will play you several recordings of each species,  and perhaps if you're not too familiar with these visible migration calls, you can actually familiarize yourself with them and start to learn them. So next up we have Brambling once again, and again in this recording, you will hear the nasal calls and the contact calls.

At the beginning of the recording, there's a few Parrot Crossbill going over in the distance.  And also in the background is a few mallard.  So this is a nice recording from Hallegurn and it was recorded in September 2022. Have a listen. 

Now the next recording is fantastic. I really like this one. Again, it's, it's brambling, um, but at the start, you will hear the calls of Western Yellow Eigtail. As well as Eurasian Ciscan and they will run through with the recording in the background. But the main species here once again is Brambling.

Again, the nasal call and the contact call. And this was recorded on the 30th of August 2022 at Hallegern. It's just a fantastic place to record birds on migration. It's so quiet up there and you'll probably hear that in these recordings. So it's probably where I will actually draw most of my audio from for that reason.

Have a listen to this. This is Brambling again at Faster Button in Sweden. 

So again, we'll just keep going with Brambling. So I'll give you one more recording now from Hallegern. And that was also recorded in August 2022.  And in the background here, I think there's a few calls from Goldcrest. 

So I think maybe you're probably getting the call in your head now.  So I'm going to give you one more recording now of Brambling on Passage, and then we will move on to another species. So this is one more recording from Halligan and Vasterbotten, also August 2022. 

Now, the other species we're going to deal with today is Western Yellow Wagtail. And this is a considerably earlier migrant than Brambling. Most of the birds will actually go through in August. And up north in Sweden, in Västerbotten actually, birds begin to come through at the end of July. Sometimes a few adults are moving down the coast. 

Sometimes a few adults move down the coast very, very early.  Now, the call is very, very distinctive and it's an excellent call to learn for people who are maybe in the UK and don't hear them very often. It's quite easy to identify once you get your ear in on it and it's a,  and like I say, it's just a very good call to learn. 

Now Western Yellow Wagtail is present all over Europe and actually it's represented by several subspecies.  And here in Sweden we have two races actually, a Thunbergi, kind of a grey headed type, and then we also have the blue headed type, the classic kind of race of Scandinavian Western Yellow Whitetail. 

Now, Western Yellow Wagtail call is a high whistle, and it's basically a V shaped sonogram. And, uh, and  I'll play one, and  I'm going to play a recording now for you of Western Yellow Wagtail from Hallagern once again in Vasterbotn. And this is quite a nice recording, as the bird goes right over the recorder. 

Now, last year was the first year I had a listening station through the autumn on Hallagern. And I got an awful lot of amazing audio off the SM Mini up there. And again, I have another one for you. This is from the 7th of September, 2022. And again, it's a very nice recording of a passing Yellow Wagtail. 

I have another lovely recording for you now. This is Yellow Wagtail once again. And in the background here, they're actually Red Throated Diver just flying around calling. And again, this is recorded in Vasta Button. in Sweden. 

Another lovely recording now for you and in this one at the start you will hear also a tree pipit going over and it's a species that often associates with yellow wagtail. They peak around the same time in late August so quite often if you're out in August these are two species you should be looking out for.

But again the main species here is western yellow wagtail. Once again this is from Vasterbotten in Sweden on the 25th of August. 

Now this time I have a slightly longer recording for you, this is maybe 2 minutes long.  And in this recording you will hear quite a number of Western Yellowtail going over the recorder. See here also if you can pick out Brambling and also Tree Pippet towards the middle. There's a little bit of noise at the end from boat engine but it's not too invasive.

And also in the background at some point. You will hear a common crane calling. 

Now, when I was sourcing audio for this section, I was trying to find, you know, some passages of migration with several species in them. And in this next one, you will hear meadow pippet and tree pippet at the start. There's also some Eurasian siskin. See if you can hear brambling once again. And then after about 30 35 seconds, you will hear western yellow wagtail going over the recorder.

So quite often, folks, when you're out watching visible migration, often there's several things going on at once, several species going over your head, and that's when knowing the calls becomes invaluable for identifying the birds. We'll have a listen to this. 

I'll finish up now with this short recording, about 30 seconds long, and it's a very nice clear recording. of Western Yellow Wagtail. 

So we'll wrap it up there folks. That was Brambling and Western Yellow Wagtail coverage, um, and visible migration. If you've never tried it folks, I really do urge you to go out and give it a go.  You can probably find some good sites just by asking around or contacting birders and quite often you can have good sites on the coasts, occasionally in high places such as hilltops. 

Birds will often follow rivers, mountain passes, but like I say, if you ask around among your local birding community about any good sites for visible migration, I'm sure you'll get some good pointers. 

Going forward in the vismig files, I think I'll probably keep these sections quite short, sort of 10 to 15 minutes, and maybe just concentrate on a couple of species at a time.  I think it's probably the best way to approach it.  And I will add some educational value to those who want to learn the calls of visible migrants.

So I hope you enjoyed the section that was the first VisMig files. I'm Alan Dalton and I'd like to thank you all for tuning in to listen once again. 

So, there we go, that's the first official VisMigFiles sound magazine, and I hope this has been enjoyable for you all, as well as educational, and hopefully this will help people to learn calls, those people who aren't already familiar with the species above.

So, Brambling and Western Yellow Wagtail are the first two species, 

And in the future, I intend to cover all of the regular autumn migrants that you can expect around Europe. And in this fashion, you can actually learn the calls if you don't already know them, or refamiliarize yourself with them, or perhaps aspects of contact calls that you might not already be familiar with, such as the contact calls of rambling in that magazine.  

 That wraps up another episode of Wild Bird Acoustics. And once again, I'd like to thank all of the listeners for tuning in to listen. And I hope you have enjoyed it very, very much. As always, feedback is very, very welcome. And you can send us an email at wildbirdacoustics at gmail. com. And also, if you want to join the mailing list, same place, wildbirdacoustics at gmail.

com. Thanks for listening, guys. 

 So that brings us to the end of another episode of Wild Bird Acoustics, and I hope you've enjoyed it. As always, you can find us on YouTube by simply searching for Wild Bird Acoustics. We do have a mailing list also, and if you want to be part of that, folks, you can drop us an email at wildbirdacoustics at gmail.

com.  Now, all feedback is greatly received here at the podcast, and if you'd like the right review of the podcast. You can do so at the buzzsprout header page. In addition, if you'd like to make a small financial donation to the podcast, you can do so using the buy me a coffee button. And you'll find that also on the buzzsprout header page. 

We'll be back in a couple of weeks with more from Wild Bird Acoustics. Until then, take it easy, folks. And as always, don't be afraid to get out into the field and relax and just listen to the wildlife out there. Maybe even do a little bit of field recording of your own.  We'll talk to you soon, folks. Take it easy.

That's all from Wild Bird Acoustics.