Periodical Cicadas Brood II

The following gallery features Periodical Cicadas (Magicicada sp.) and exuviae spotted at several locations in Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge, Army Garrison Fort Belvoir, Fairfax County, Virginia USA. This was the first time in 2013 I saw 17-year cicadas from “Brood II” at the park.

I recorded three audio clips (~10 s each) of Periodical Cicadas Brood II on 29 May 2013 at Meadowood Recreation Area, Fairfax County, Virginia USA. Meadowood is located on the opposite side of Pohick Bay from Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge. The sound of a brood of cicadas is astounding and loud — it sounds like a flying saucer hovering overhead!

Audio Clip No. 1

Audio Clip No. 2

Audio Clip No. 3

Tech Tips: I used the free “Voice Memos” app on my Apple iPhone to record the cicadas. I used “Audacity,” a free audio processor, to edit the files: I amplified the entire selection for each clip; and added metadata. Finally, I uploaded the audio clips to “Audioboo,” a free Website for audioblogging. Try it, it’s easy!

Copyright © 2013 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Carolina Wren

The unofficial motto of the Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) is, Sing it loud, sing it proud!

This shy bird can be hard to see, but it delivers an amazing number of decibels for its size. Source Credit: “All About Birds,” Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

I shot the preceding photograph of a Carolina Wren during a photowalk through the Hollin Meadows Swim & Tennis Club on 11 May 2012. A little less than a year later, I recorded the following audio clip of a Carolina Wren calling in the woods at Huntley Meadows Park on 04 April 2013. If you listen carefully, then you can hear two bird calls: a Carolina Wren is the louder call; a Carolina Chickadee is the quieter call.

Tech Tips: I used the free “Voice Memos” app on my Apple iPhone to record the bird call. I used “Audacity,” a free audio processor, to edit the file: I cut some noise at the beginning of the clip; and amplified the entire selection. Finally, I uploaded the audio clip to “audioBoom,” a free Website for audioblogging. Try it, it’s easy!

The following slideshow features a few more photos of the same bird.

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Copyright © 2013 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Osprey calling its mate

The following slideshow features a female Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) calling its mate. The nesting pair of Osprey was spotted near Riverside Park in Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

Females usually show dark necklace across white breast. Source Credit: Osprey, “All About Birds,” Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

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Related Resource: “Osprey calling its mate (amplified)” – an audio recording of the same bird shown in the preceding photos.

This post includes a link to an audio recording of bird calls by the same Osprey shown in the photos! You may be wondering, “How did you do that?” I used the free “Voice Memos” app on my Apple iPhone to record the bird call in situ. Next I used “Audacity,” a free audio editor, to amplify the recording on my Apple iMac. Finally, I uploaded the amplified version to “Audioboo.” Audioboo is a free tool for audioblogging. (Did I just coin a new term?) Try it yourself — it’s easy!

Editor’s Note: Audioboo provides three options that may be used to embed a player in blog posts: Standard (HTML5); WordPress.com (Flash); and “If all else fails.” For this blog, the Flash version (shown below) is the only option that displays properly on an Apple iMac computer; none of the options displays properly on an Apple iOS mobile device such as iPad.

WordPress.com

Copyright © 2013 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Osprey (male, feeding and bringing food to nest)

A male Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) bringing food to its nest. The female Osprey was in the nest (out of sight) at the time of the following photo. The Osprey nest is located near Riverside Park, along the Mount Vernon Trail, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

Notice the headless fish shown in all three photos. An experienced birder told me Osprey always eat fish from head to tail. In this case, the male Osprey ate the fish head while perched on a nearby tree before bringing the rest of the fish to the nest.

Related Resource: Audioboo of the female Osprey calling its mate, recorded shortly before the photos were taken.

Copyright © 2012 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved. www.wsanford.com

Southern Leopard Frogs (mating pair)

A mating pair of Southern Leopard Frogs (Lithobates sphenocephalus) spotted during a photowalk through Huntley Meadows Park, Fairfax County, Virginia USA. The male is the smaller of the two frogs, positioned on top of the female. Notice the difference in coloration between the male- and female frog. Photo 3 of 5 is a cropped version of Photo 2; Photo 5 of 5 is a cropped version of Photo 4.

Related Resource: Audioboo of frog mating calls, recorded shortly before the photos were taken.

Photos and audio Copyright © 2012 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved. www.wsanford.com