There aren't a lot of videos of Flammulated Owls out there, and despite having seen 100's and photographed dozens, I have never tried to shoot video... until this week.  I shot several short videos, the first of which I am posting here.  The bird in question was less than 20' away and super cooperative.  Check it out below:

Sorry that it's a little shaky.  I didn't grab my tripod and trying to hand hold for video usually doesn't work out to great.  Needless to say the last 3-4 seconds of this video show how fierce this tiny little owl is:



This winter has seen a higher than usual number of detections of Northern Pygmy-Owls.  Winter is usually the best time to observe these owls in Utah but this year it seems to be a banner year. This individual was seen in the town of Rockville, Utah right along the busy Highway leading into Zion National Park.

We watched it drop and take the mouse out, before finally putting it out of its misery, and after a few minutes starting to dig into its catch.

Of all the pygmy-owls I've seen this was by far the coolest interaction I've had! What are some of the experiences others have had with this species this winter, and in winters past?

I've been posting a little bit more to my personal blog at mwbirdco.com lately, but wanted to share a few of those posts here.  I will be trying to cross post as much as I can as well...

Hummingbirding and Mammaling in Utah

Last night I guided a gentleman from Florida along with his son to look for Flammulated Owls outside Salt Lake City. As with all of our other trips this summer, we had great success with the owls, seeing 3 individuals and hearing 6 others for a total 9 FLAMMY'S on the night...

Virginia's Warbler Recording

I recorded this one today while out scouting locations for a few specialty species--VIRGINIA'S WARBLER included.  This species is typically found in Gambel's Oak Woodland in Utah, or mixed Pinyon Juniper and Oak Woodland.  This bird was singing for 5 minutes a few feet from the road, without the use of playback. Heard far more often than seen, learning the songs of birds like this make them far easier to locate...

This is what a Flammulated Owl sounds like...

Last Night we guided 2 locals, as well as 2 folks from California with Jeff Bilsky to just outside Salt Lake City to look for FLAMMULATED OWLS.  Starting before light as usual we birded through riparian, oak woodland, Aspen and mixed conifer woodland before heading into the woods at dark to see if we could turn up a Flammy...

A few years ago I started making highlight reels of all the pictures and videos I'd taken during that given calendar year at the conclusion of December. It's a way for me to relive the memories by going through all my pictures, and also, to finally get around to sharing some of the great sights I hadn't posted yet. This is by far the longest one I've made, which is a reflection of both how much fun I had in 2013 and also the fact that I bought a new camera in mid 2012 (The Nikon P510). It's a decidedly cheesy endeavor, but one that I admit I thoroughly enjoy doing. I hope that for some of you, this may bring back your own 2013 memories, and also perhaps inspire some goals for 2014. Personally, I hope to get to the Uinta Mountains more next year as many of my favorite 2013 pictures and memories are from just 2 visits there. All of these pictures and videos are from Utah except the very last one, which is from Chicago a couple of days ago. At times my excitement outweighs my steadiness or focus savvy, which will be evident in some of these, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless. I'm grateful for all the new faces and friends I've met this past year (as well as the familiar ones) and look forward to seeing you all out in the field in 2014. Thanks and good birding... BILSKY

I’ll be the first to admit that birding generally is recognized as a hobby of retirees.  To many people it comes across as something boring, I mean come on who cares about a couple of stupid pigeons right?  I often get asked questions about birds by co-workers and friends, because they know me as the bird-guy--and frequently they are astonished by what they don’t know.  Like the fact that there are almost 10,000 species of birds on the planet seems impossible to them.  Or that birding isn’t just sitting in your car at the park looking at the ducks.  Granted there can be quite a bit of boring birding--there are certain types of birding that get almost any birders hearts pulsing.  Pelagic birding is one of those things.

Pelagic Birding--5 species in one view.

L to R: Wilson's Storm-Petrel, Shy Albatross, White-chinned Petrel, Cape Petrel, and Cape Gannet

Months before heading to Africa as I planned where and when we were going I looked for ways to get in as much birding and as many species in between stops as possible.  After all, this may be the only time I ever go to South Africa, so I needed to maximize.  When we inked in Cape Town as a definite stop, my first thought wasn’t what will we do in Cape Town, but instead was, “there has to be a pelagic company there”.  For those unfamiliar with pelagic birding, it is simply put, birding at sea.  Once you get 25 or so miles off the coast of pretty much any land mass you start to see a change in bird life.  Typically this is related to underwater terrain, currents, and food sources--and with it comes birds that you will almost certainly never see from the coast.

So anyways, I immediately typed Cape Town Pelagic into Google and sure enough Cape Town Pelagics was a company.  They run weekly pelagic trips off Cape Point--the kicker is you don’t know whether your trip will go Saturday, Sunday, or at all.  When you book you basically pay to block out the entire weekend, in case the weather or swells make the trip impossible the first day.  I looked at the calendar, made sure we would be there over a weekend and went ahead and booked--however, when I booked I knew that if the trip didn’t go on the Saturday, I wouldn’t get to go--because we booked something else for Sunday with the Monday following as a back up day (more on that in the next post).

My trip was booked for September 7th, and as my last post mentioned, I called on the 6th and confirmed (thank goodness) that the trip was on for Saturday.  The trips the previous 2 weeks had had weather issues, but it looked like clear sailing for this trip.  Sam stayed in Cape Town, while I was up at 5:00am getting ready to go.  After throwing my gear in the car, I drove down the highway in the dark, arriving at Hout Bay Marina well before I needed to be there--I easily could have slept another 30-40 minutes.  After eating a bagel and some orange juice, and dropping some Dramamine, I still felt a little uneasy.  Usually this happens to me before pelagic birding, so I wasn’t too worried, but its never a  great feeling hopping on a boat with your stomach turning.  By 7:00am everyone was present and we met our captain Dave (I believe), and our guide, Cliff Dorse who was simply put, excellent.

After a quick briefing  and meeting the other 7 participants, we headed to the boat--boy was I surprised.  This was my 4th-ish pelagic and all had been on decent sized boats--the kind where 20-30 people could be aboard.  That wasn’t the case today--this trip was aboard a sport-fishing boat, maybe big enough barely for the 10 people on board.  There wasn’t even enough room for everyone in the cabin during the ride out--where swells were 10-14’.  I being the youngest on the boat, one guest from England, and the Cliff all headed to the back of the boat to let the older, and those already looking green sit for the ride out in the cabin  The next 2 hours would be the wettest boat ride of my life as crashing on the waves sent water flying over the top and sides of the boat--all three of us were soaked from head to toe by the time we reached the trawling grounds--and 2 months later I am still sick (more on this in my final recap).

In any event as we left the marina we had CAPE CORMORANTS, HARTLAUB’S and KELP GULLS, and a few GREAT CORMORANTS.  From Hout Bay we headed due south and then slightly west out towards the Cape Trawling Grounds.  Most of the birds the first 5-10 miles were the ones mentioned above.  Bird life starts to dip off in that 10 mile range, before we started seeing a few of the ocean goers.  We did see one SWIFT TERN along the way, but our first ocean going birds came in the 10-15 mile range with a SHY ALBATROSS and a WHITE-CHINNED PETREL--both lifers that we didn’t stop to look at because Cliff guaranteed we would see more.  I spotted three terns flying over that appeared to be ANTARCTIC TERNS, the only of the trip--and not seen by anyone in the cabin.

3 White-chinned Petrels with an Albatross hiding in the back

As we continued to deeper water the captain started spotting ships in the distance.  The key was to find a trawler to follow, and that took a while as the first boat we went towards ended up not being a trawler.  Once we eventually and luckily found one (this doesn’t always happen), we made a bee-line towards it. As we were approaching we spotted a CAPE FUR SEAL feeding on some fish and nearby were a few birds picking up the scraps.  The birds ended up being 3 WHITE-CHINNED PETREL and a gorgeous prize bird a WANDERING ALBATROSS.

The first rarity of the day a stunning Wandering Albatross

The wanderer was considered rare on these trips--they show up in small numbers but are never guaranteed--lucky for us this lifer was super cooperative and the captain lined us up perfect for photos. After the trip our guide posted a note that there was some indication that the bird we saw may actually have been a Tristan Albatross due to its overall pattern and smaller size.  But he lamented that at this time not-enough is known about all the subspecies of Wandering to really be sure.

Wandering Albatross close-up (note the pink sheen on the neck)

As we headed towards the trawler it became apparent we were in for a treat--it was unlike anything I had see before, as in the distance 1,000’s of birds swirled, swooped, dove, sat on the water, flew, glided and followed the trawler as it went.  It was a spectacle.

Various Seabirds following a trawler off Cape Point

Had I not been there to see I don’t know if I would have believed it.  I had seen video like this before, but couldn’t imagine it being like this.  The majority of the birds were CAPE (Pintado) PETRELS and their striking black-and-white patterns really made them stick out as they swirled in flocks behind the boat.

Cape Petrel flock in flight

The occasional SOOTY SHEARWATER passed by, and were soon joined by a new species for me, GREAT SHEARWATER.  These birds were pretty stunning when the light hit them just right, showing the details of the edging on the feathers of the otherwise drab--black, white, and brown birds.

Great Shearwater with its striking feather detail

At one point I looked up and a PARASITIC JAEGER flew past--I yelled it out, but no one seemed to look for the bird as they focused on other things--such is life on a boat.  Pretty soon we were right behind the boat, in the mix with the masses of birds.  Aside from the above mentioned birds there were quite a few SHY ALBATROSS (now called White-capped) following the boats--you could look any direction and see this species as well as the second most common--BLACK-BROWED ALBATROSS.

White-capped (Shy) Albatross was the most abundant Albatross 

Black-browed Albatross was the 2nd most common species

As we followed along and the swarms of birds swirled around it wasn’t long before the great hunter of the southern seas joined the fray--the BROWN SKUA (formerly Subantarctic) came in to take its turn finding breakfast.  We saw several during the course of the day, but this first one eventually landed right next to the boat and I was able to watch it slurp up a fish before taking flight.

Brown Skua slurping down a meal

Skuas and Jaegers are by far my favorite seabird--and watching these guys in the mix was a lot of fun.  We followed the first boat for some time, occasionally drifting off far behind it to watch something out of the ordinary that came by--and on this day those birds were the various species of Albatross.

Fly by (Northern) Royal Albatross

I can’t tell you in what order or exactly when each species was seen as the 4 or so hours we spent with the trawlers seemingly passed much faster.  Short periods of excitement following a rarity that arrived were followed with periods of pure amazement watching the throngs of birds.  I could've seen just the common stuff and the experience would have been memorable--but the rare birds made it for a once in a life-time trip.  We soon had our first of 3 or 4 NORTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS come by the boat.  

(Northern) Royal Albatross on the water with a Black-browed

Technically its just Royal Albatross because the Northern and Southern species were grouped.  For good measure though we did a short time later have a single SOUTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS come by as well--so if they ever split again I have that species too!

(Southern) Royal Albatross fly by

In between these birds it could be called the “Day of the Wanderers”.  As luck would have it we had no less than 6 WANDERING ALBATROSS for the day.  I put 7 down in my notes as I didn’t photograph one of the distant birds--but made sure to catch each of the closer individuals.  Some passed the boat just feet away, while others sat in the swells providing excellent looks on the water.  Some passed a short distance away providing great comparisons to the more common albatrosses. The WANDERING ALBATROSS were surely the birds of the day.

4 of the other 6 Wandering Albatross seen during the day

The Albatross weren’t the only big seabirds that came in though.  Several times entire flocks of CAPE GANNETS joined the mix.  They were probably there the whole time but kept circling back to the trawlers as they moved.  When they were close though, the looks were amazing, and the birds were the most stunning in terms of overall beauty.

Cape Gannet almost too close to photograph

After following the first trawler for several hours the captain spotted another and opted to move towards it to see what different birds might be with that boat.  The tricky thing is deciding if its a good move or not.  It was apparent at the first boat that new birds were coming and going frequently enough to make following it worthwhile.  But the second boat could potentially have other following it that are completely different.  So we decided to head to the second boat.  En route were 2 of the above mentioned WANDERING ALBATROSS.

1 of the other 2 Wandering Albatross seen

At this point we also started picking up a few more new birds for the day.  First came a SOUTHERN GIANT-PETREL, one of two for the day.

Southern Giant-Petrel making a pass

Then came the YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSSES.  We had 2 of each subspecies--ATLANTIC and INDIAN--another species which eventually may be split again.  These birds were all single fly-bys that didn’t give us the photo ops that some of the more common--and more obliging species allowed.  In fact I only was able to get a couple shots of one of the Atlantic and Indian--and they aren’t great.

Best shot I could muster of an Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross

"Awesome" shot of an Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross

We eventually caught up to the second trawler that was being followed by an impressive flotilla of CAPE PETRELS.  At this point it was past midday and we were mostly just floating along following the trawler.  We had seen all of the expected species for the day and were just relaxing hoping for something uncommon to find its way to us.  I used the time to try and photograph WILSON’S STORM-PETRELS.  I had first seen this species 10 years ago from land in New Hampshire as a summer storm brought 100’s within viewing distance of the coast--now they skittered across the water just feet from the boat.

Wilson's Storm-Petrel gliding over the water

I would argue that storm-petrels are one of the hardest birds to photograph--at least on water.  With the swells still heaving us 6-10’  every time they past and the birds dipping and dodging between smaller waves, it was often hard to get the birds in the viewfinder.  I eventually managed to catch a few.

Wilson Storm-Petrel with a Cape Petrel

Additionally upon reviewing my photos it appears I photographed 2 LEACH’S STORM PETRELS, which are much rarer but occasionally mixed in with the more common cousins.  This was not a species that any of actually noted during the day--I think most focused on the bigger birds--specifically the albatrosses.

Leach's Storm-Petrel with a Black-browed Albatross

At some point while we were floating along we snagged a NORTHERN GIANT-PETREL to go along with the earlier southern.  At this point we had basically gotten every single species we could have expected to get on a Pelagic this time of year.  We were in a window between several other species that show up with regularity in August and October but had little chance to see any on this trip.

Northern Giant-Petrel too close to fit in the frame

As our time on the boat watching seabirds neared an end most of the passengers were in the front of the boat or sitting in the cabin.  Myself and the gentleman from Britain that road out in the back were in the back watching the streams of Albatross flyby.  At one point he grumbles something and ended up saying something to the effect of, “hmm, was that a Salvin’s?”  I quickly looked where he was and shot off a handful of shots.  Luckily one turned out pretty good showing what appears to be a SALVIN’S ALBATROSS. This species is typically found in the southern oceans near Australia and South America but is classified as accidental in African waters.

Possible Salvin's Albatross (note the bill pattern and hooded appearance)

The other fellow alerted Cliff but by that time the bird had disappeared into the mix.  It was very similar to the Shy Albatross, so it could blend in fairly easy.  Unofficially it was the 8th species of albatross for the day--although only 6 show up on my list because of the 2 lumped groups (Yellow-nosed and Royals).  A truly spectacular day on the ocean

I never imagined seeing an actual "flock" of Albatross

Soon we were headed back towards land--we had spent a little too long following the trawlers and were going to be late back to the marina--we ended up being about 90 minutes later than I had planned--but the birds made up for it.  The ride in seemed to take forever and for some on the boat I think the day as whole probably felt that way.  From the moment we left the safety of the bay till we re-entered it, there were 2 individuals on the boat who left the cabin only to lean over the edge of the boat and let their insides loose.  These folks paid to go on the boat--and really didn’t get to see all the great stuff because they couldn’t handle the motion of the ocean.

This kind of view made for a spectacular day

I felt bad that they missed out but some people just aren’t made for the high-seas.  There was one other guy who just looked green the whole-time.  He never puked but spent at least ½ the day in the cabin as well.  Despite my stomach not feeling great in the morning, I patched things up with another bagel, 2 small bags of Swedish Fish, a fistful of Hi-Chews, and a couple gulps of some Coca-Cola.  Essentials for Pelagic birding--really any kind of fruit flavored candy does the job for me at least.

Once back to the marina, I had to rush back to Cape Town to get Sam and head to our hotel for the next 3 nights--unfortunately this meant I missed the recap with the group.  All being said I ended up with 15 life birds, and 19 new trip birds during the course of the day.  The fact is many of those birds I very well may never see again--although I would gladly do another pelagic with Cape Town Pelagics and their excellent staff.

100's of Cape Petrels swarming

As a last note checkout the eBird lists below to see the actual numbers for some of the birds seen.  for instance I estimated it to be about 5,000 Cape Petrels--Cliff estimated closer to 8,000--regardless it was lots of birds.  I leave you with this video that shows what it was like in live action!




15 life birds on the Pelagic / 275 total trip life birds / 295 total trip species

photos from the pelagic:
http://www.timaverybirding.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=1114

eBird Checklists:
Offshore--Cape Pt. to trawling grounds, Western Cape
Offshore--Cape trawling grounds, Western Cape

and a shorter trip report from the guide:
Cape Town Pelagics Trip Report

This past Sunday I decided to wake up early and head to the Uinta Mountains. My goal was to hike up the Bald Mountain trail from the East Fork of Blacks Fork trailhead and look for White-tailed Ptarmigan and whatever other adventures came my way. Little did I know that my day would become one of the most memorable encounters with wildlife I've ever had. 

When I started on I-80, east of Park City, the roadway was shrouded in a dense fog. It was impressive and perhaps a harbinger of greatness to come. Through Wyoming and back south into Utah I drove, past Meeks Cabin Reservoir and towards the trailhead. I decided that I should explore some other roads/trails and picked one at random prior to the trailhead. I got out of the car and found a trail of sorts meandering through the woods. I hiked a bit and came upon a Northern Goshawk perched in a tree. I have never seen an adult Gos perched like this before and I was loving life, snapping pictures and enjoying the moment. After satisfying myself with photos, I kept hiking down the trail. After a few steps, the Gos took off and flew to a tree that looked down on me and began calling. I wasn't concerned as there was a good distance between us. I then heard a second Gos and this one was from lower and in front of me. I figured out that based on size, this was likely the female. She had prey in her talons and was also making calls. I took a few more pics & video and then continued my hike. As I walked, the male seemed to follow me, albeit from the tops of the trees and once I was far enough away the pursuit and calling trailed off. I wasn't alarmed as neither bird showed much aggression towards me other than perhaps some over zealous calling. After a bit more hiking I decided it was time to get back to my car and move on down the road to the trail I really came for. I knew I would hike back past the Goshawks and with camera at the ready, made my may back towards them. 

As I approached, the calling began again. Only a few minutes had past since my last encounter and this time, they were ready. Perhaps they realized their previous efforts weren't adequate to drive me away for long and the male flew low and close and menacing, calling all the while. I was bit taken aback as he stared at me, from eye level maybe 15 yards out. I kept hiking. He kept staring and calling. All of a sudden he took off, headed right towards me. I couldn't believe it. Here was this amazing Hawk, wings spread, talons out, headed right at my head. I turned my back and took a few steps and ducked as he whooshed right over me. "HOLY $%^&", I said. He banked and perched close by and continued his stare and scream. I began moving at a quicker pace this time. I heard the female also calling from not too far away. I kept hiking. They kept yelling. I had one eye on the male worried that he'd be lunging at my face again. Sure enough, all of sudden he took off and banked at a spot that gave him a perfect runway down the trail right at me. He came with speed, I ran with speed, I ducked with haste and "whooooooosh". Another narrow miss. It is an odd feeling when you go from awe to fear. And the response is no longer to capture the moment. The response is to get the hell out of there. And that's what I did. In a full sprint. Being pursued all the while by an angry Goshawk. The memories and the story are great and amusing now, but I confess that in the moment, I truly felt the bird's intent to injure me and absolutely believed in its ability to do so. I made it out unscathed and with some great pictures. However, next time I hear the cry of a Goshawk, I will be a bit wiser and more prepared and know that there is no bluff in their calls. I've shared some photos and video below of the Goshawks and some other sights I found around the area. I never did make it to the Ptarmigan as afternoon storms sent me home early, but I'll be heading back soon to try again. 

Edited Video of the Goshawks

The "sentinel"

Female with prey

Female with prey

Nothing scary about a Brown Creeper

A Raven takes exception to a Golden Eagle

American Pipit

The Bald Mountain Trail

Pine Grosbeak

Butterfly Party

Clark's Nutcracker

Rufous Hummingbird

On Saturday June 1st I wanted to search for Elf owls at Lytle Ranch Preserve in Utah's Mojave Desert, but had to give up because the ranch dogs wouldn't stop barking.  I ended up heading back to my car which was a few hundred yards away so the dogs weren't as loud.  AS I arrived back at my parking spot I heard a Western Screech-Owl singing from the trees nearby.  After a pathetic imitation whistle I was surrounded by at least 5 of these little owls.  One landed on a dead snag hanging out over the road which gave me the opportunity to try filming at night--something I had not tried before.  Below is the final product:

The video clips were shot using my Canon t3i camera body and a my Sigma 150-500mm lens, set at somewhere between 300-400mm.  The picture at the beginning used my Canon 580 ex II flash at 1/200 second.  The videos were lit up by a Surefire halogen lens shined from near the camera at the snag near the owls feet.  I shot video in 30 second increments followed by a few minutes of leaving the bird alone, hoping not to cause to much distress.  In all I shot 5 clips of this bird to make this video, before leaving the bird alone and looking for the others in the trees nearby.

A young Western Screech-Owl

A number of years ago I sat on a mountain top on a cold spring night with Colby Neuman listening for night migrants.  Most nights it was futile.  One call note here, another there.  That was some type of warbler--and the other a sparrow.  Occasionally a duck or shorebird flew over too, but there weren't enough birds for me to ever get to into it.  Colby borrowed some recording gear from the Univeristy of Utah to see if he could catch some of the calls--I don't know if he ever did, but it was a novel thought.  A couple years ago when Canon launched its latest DSLR cameras with HD video, the untold side effect for birders would be easy recording of bird sounds without an extra piece of equipment--if you were into that sort of thing.

A cool photo of a California Gull would have been even cooler with sound or video!

I was surprised at the quality of some of the recording I managed.  I never planned on recording bird songs, but it just sort  of happened--and like getting pictures, recording a new sound is exciting--another form of collecting if you will.  I am by no means good at it.  I often forget to turn off my image stabilizer on my lens--giving the video an nice churring tone in the background.  I often bang the camera, or move it, and the tiny microphone just so happens to be very sensitive--which is why the sounds it does often pick up are really good.  Take for instance the first recording I uploaded to xeno-canto.org last summer--a  Screaming Piha from the Amazon in Peru--a pretty good recording in my opinion.

I never actually saw the bird--but being able to capture the song was thrilling.  I had recorded dozens if not more than 100 songs, calls, and videos over the past years, but hadn't done much till the Piha video--and to be honest, hadn't done much since.  So tonight I decided to sit down and go through the video I took in St. George this past weekend and pull out some of the better and more interesting recording for your enjoyment.

This was the first recording of the trip, a Northern Mockingbird at 12:30 AM in pitch black 100' from our camp site on the Beaver Dam Slope:

The next morning while driving to the ranch I was able to catch one verse of a Scott's Oriole:

While hiking in the Beaver Dam Wash this Blue Grosbeak occasionally let out a volley and I managed to pick it up once:

While hopefully waiting for a Spotted Owl to start barking, this Canyon Wren kept filling the slot canyon with its unforgettable song:

Just after the sunset a number of Hermit Thrushes began singing--as if trying to one up the wrens:

But the real prize cam about 30 minutes after sunset when a Spotted Owl rang out from the cliffs above us.  I wasn't sure my camera would pick it up, but was pleased with what I captured:

The following morning I woke up to a dawn chorus of Brewer's Sparrows very close to camp.  I walked over and stood about 20' away from 5-10 birds that were buzzing and trilling away:

A couple hours later we found ourselves at a small pond along lower Kolob Terrace Road where I was able to record a Yellow-breasted Chat from just a few feet away as it poured out all kinds of chirps and whistles:

This Summer Tanager was a stable all three mornings we birded the ranch--it sand from the top of a cottonwood in the housing area almost non-stop.  I had hoped to catch the call notes of this very cool bird, but only hear one call all weekend--so I settled for this our last morning there:

I didn't expect to make this recording on this trip, but a male Evening Grosbeak came flying into the trees near me at Lytle Ranch our last morning.  It chirped every couple seconds (the hard CHIT note) while a White-winged Dove bellowed in the background:

And finally I got a mediocre recording of a Black-chinned Sparrow from the highway as we passed over Utah Hill.  I captured an awesome recording last month near Virgin--but accidentally left my camera on silent mode so actually missed the whole episode--so this was a small consolation:

And that's it.  I was very happy to add 11 songs to my collection this past weekend--and really need to sit down and go through the rest of my stuff from the past couple years to see what I can pull out.  I bet I have close to 100 species recorded--its just a matter of actually doing the footwork. 

My shabby recording make me appreciate the skill and expertise that professional recordists have.  Xeno-canto.org is full of great recordings, from all over the world--and form world class recordists.  Check it out if you have some free time--or become addicted if you want to improve those audible skills!