Bird Songs of Dooryard, Field and Forest Vol. 1

Jerry and Norma Stillwell - Bird Songs of Dooryard, Field and Forest Vol. 1

I'm thinking about posting an environmental/nature sounds type recording every Sunday for a while and see how this goes. I'll start with this LP of bird songs. It's nice to listen to this during winter (here in the northern hemisphere) while waiting for spring to return.

Here's a little background information from the liner notes:

Here is the husband and wife team that made these remarkable recordings. Both Jerry and Norma Stillwell had been interested in birds since childhood, but it was only after Jerry retired as Chief Technical Editor for the American Petroleum Institute at Dallas, Texas, that they were able to devote their full time to recording the songs of American birds.

In 1948 they sold their home and car, bought a truck and house trailer, and began the most exciting trip of their lives. Through state after state, they travelled with thousands of dollars worth of sound recording equipment in quest of one thing - the best possible recordings of bird songs. Today they have one of the largest and finest collections of bird songs in the United States.

"Wild birds do not sing at the nod of a conductor or in a sound proof room," Jerry points out. That is why he and Norma usually get up at three o'clock in the morning, drink six cups of coffee, find a likely spot, and spread a network of lines to half a dozen microphones before the birds start singing. At the recorder, Jerry listens to each microphone in turn while Norma aims the parabolic reflector which has the effect of bringing the bird much closer to the microphones.

By seven or eight a.m., breezes usually stop the recording, and they spend the rest of the day listening to the results. They save only the best songs, usually from five to ten percent of the total amount recorded. More and more of their daytime hours are being given to visiting birdlovers, amateurs and experts who have heard of the famous Stillwell bird song collection.

From the many hundreds of songs in their collection, Jerry and Norma have selcted for this record more than 135 distinctive songs and calls of 49 different species. They hope you will enjoy them as much as they have enjoyed recording them.

Tracklisting:

SIDE A

1. Cardinal; Titmouse; Chickadee; Flycatchers {5:04}

2. Warblers; Wrens; Woodpeckers {5:33}

3. Vireos; Dove; Blackbird Family {4:50}

4. Chat; Catbird; Thrasher; Mockingbird {4:55}

SIDE B

1. Sparrows; Dickcissel {5:22}

2. Finches; Buntings; Bob-White {5:41}

3. Crows; Cuckoo; Jay; Nuthatch; Night Birds {5:04}

4. Martin; Tanager; Thrushes {4:32}

(1)