Podcast appearances and mentions of lang elliot

Click to listen to episode (5:44). Sections below are the following:Transcript of AudioAudio Notes and AcknowledgmentsImagesSourcesRelated Water Radio EpisodesFor Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 12-26-23. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the weeks of December 25, 2023, and January 1, 2024. MUSIC – ~13 sec – instrumental. That's part of “The Foggy Dew” by Timothy Seaman.  It's one of the songs heard on Virginia Water Radio in 2023, and it opens our annual episode where we listen back to some of the previous year's sounds and music.  We start with a medley of mystery sounds.  Have a listen for about 40 seconds, and see how many you recognize. SOUNDS - ~39 sec. 1.  Eastern Narrrow-mouthed Toad.2.  Humpback Whale.3.  Hooded Merganser.4.  Cascades waterfall.5.  Gray Tree Frogs, an Eastern Screech Owl, Eastern Wood-Pewee, and Wood Thrush. If you knew all of most of those, you're a 2023 authentic aquatic ace! You heard, first, an Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad; second; a Humpback Whale; third, a Hooded Merganser; fourth, the Cascades Falls in Giles County, Virginia; and, last, the sounds of Gray Tree Frogs, an Eastern Screech Owl, an Eastern Wood-Pewee, and a Wood Thrush, all recorded at a pond in Blacksburg, Va., at sundown on July 27, 2023. Thanks to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources and to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week's sounds, from the 2008 CD, “The Calls of Virginia Frogs and Toads”; to the National Park Service for the Humpback Whale Sound; and to Lang Elliott for permission to use the Hooded Merganser sound, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs. We close out 2023 with a 1 minute/45 second sample of music heard this year, with parts of “I Walk in Beauty,” by the late Madeline MacNeil; “Driftage,” by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand; “Frog Level Yacht Club,” by Trevor McKenzie; “Backburner,” by the group The Faux Paws; and, last, “World's Too Big,” by Kat Mills, whose lyrics help us look toward the coming year.  Thanks to all the musicians who gave permission to use their music, and thanks to Janita Baker for permission to use Madeline MacNeil's music. So long to 2023, and here's hoping for a 2024 the brings to your ears, good sounds; to your heart, good music; and to your health, good water. MUSIC – ~1 min./43 sec. 1.  From “I Walk in Beauty” – lyrics: “Beauty is behind me, above and below me.” 2. From “Driftage” – instrumental. 3.  From “Frog Level Yacht Club” – lyrics: “I know it's fantasy and my plays tricks on my memory, but that's how I recall the Frog Level Yacht Club.” 4.  From “Backburner” – lyrics: “I put my heart in the freezer, I put my love on ice, I tell myself I don't need her, wouldn't that be nice?  I put  my heart in the freezer, I put my love on hold, I tell myself I don't need her, and then I wonder why I feel so cold.  I wonder why I feel, I wonder why I feel, I wonder why I feel so cold.” 5.  From “World's Too Big” – lyrics: “World's too big to see in one lifetime; what do you think you'll do this year in the world, world, world, in the world?” SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. Sounds Used and Their Previous 2023 Virginia Water Radio Episodes  (listed in the order heard in this episode's audio). The sounds of the Eastern Narrrow-mouthed Toad was from “The Calls of Virginia Frogs and Toads” CD, copyright 2008 by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (now the Department of Wildlife Resources) and Lang Elliott/NatureSoundStudio, used with permission.   The CD accompanies A Guide to the Frogs and Toads of Virginia, Special Publication Number 3, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; that publication is no longer available at Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources online store, https://www.shopdwr.com/.  For more information, contact the Department at P.O. Box 90778, Henrico, VA 23228-0778; phone: (804) 367-1000 (VTDD); main Web page is https://dwr.virginia.gov/; to send e-mail, visit https://dwr.virginia.gov/contact/.  Lang Elliott's work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/.  This sound was used in Episode 649, 2-20-23, a medley of frog and toad calls. The Humpback Whale sound was from the National Park Service ‘Sound Gallery,” online at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/sound/sounds-humpback-whale.htm, as of 12-22-23.  This sound was used in Episode 651, 3-20-23, on ocean and  marine biodiversity. The Hooded Merganser sound was from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot's work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/.  This sound was used in Episode 670, 12-11-23, a duck names quiz. 4.  The waterfall sound was recorded by Virginia Water Radio at the Cascades waterfall in Giles County, Va., on September 28, 2023.  This sound was used in Episode 666, 10-16-23, on waterfalls in Virginia. 5.  The sounds of Gray Tree Frogs, an Eastern Screech Owl, and an Eastern Wood-Pewee, with the less prominent sounds of a Wood Thrush, were recorded by Virginia Water Radio at a pond in Blacksburg, Va., at about 8:30 p.m. on July 27, 2023.  These sounds were used in Episode 661, 8-7-23, on the sounds between dawn and dusk on a summer day at a Virginia pond. Musical Selections Used and Their Previous 2023 Virginia Water Radio Episodes (listed in the order heard in this episode's audio)

Click to listen to episode (4:36).Sections below are the following:Transcript of AudioAudio Notes and AcknowledgmentsImagesExtra InformationSourcesRelated Water Radio EpisodesFor Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 11-9-23. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the weeks of December 11 and December 18, 2023.  [Please note: the audio mistakenly says December 20 instead of December 18.] SOUND – ~6 sec. Those sounds of Mallard ducks, recorded in December 2015 at the Virginia Tech Duck Pond in Blacksburg, set the stage for a duck designation derby—that is, a duck names quiz game! I'll give you clues to the common names of six duck species inhabiting areas of Virginia, either year-round or seasonally.  After each set of clues, you'll have a few seconds to hear sounds from the duck and try to guess its name.  In the clues, “diving duck” refers to those birds that dive deep under the surface and feed underwater; and “dabbling duck” refers to those birds that feed on or just below the water surface. Number 1:  This large diving duck, noted for its reddish head and bright whitish body, has a name that a painter would recognize.  SOUND - ~6 sec.  That's the Canvasback. Number 2:  This diving duck is known and named for its golden-yellow eyes.  SOUND - ~5 sec.  That's the Common Goldeneye. Number 3:  For people who appreciate colorful birds, this small dabbling duck's iridescent green feathers on its head and wings are a big deal.  SOUND - ~5 sec.  That's the Green-winged Teal. Number 4:  If people who wear “hoodies” wanted to know how to look like a bird, the male of this diving duck would be the answer.  SOUND - ~5 sec.  That's the Hooded Merganser. Number 5:  This dabbling duck has a name—based on its spoon-like bill—that could be applied to what people in, say Minnesota, have to become after a big snowfall, if they want to clear a path.  SOUND - ~5 sec.  That's the Northern Shoveler. And number 6:  This elaborately colored dabbling duck, notable for its nests in tree holes and for its ability to perch on tree branches, has a name that comes from trees.  SOUND - ~5 sec.  That's the Wood Duck. The birds in this game are among 25 duck species known to occur in Virginia, at least occasionally.  Many are around in wintertime, so if you're venturing out near water during the cold-weather months, perhaps—with luck and pluck—you'll glimpse or hear some ducks. Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use the sounds in the duck names quiz, which were all from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs. We close with some music for ducks, with a tune attributed to the late Henry Reed, a traditional musician who lived in Giles County, Virginia.  Here's about 25 seconds of “Ducks on the Pond,” performed by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, Virginia. MUSIC - ~27 sec – Instrumental. SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of “Cripple Creek” to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Canvasback, Common Goldeneye, Green-winged Teal, Hooded Merganser, Northern Shoveler, and Wood Duck sounds heard in this episode were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot's work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. The Mallard sounds were recorded by Virginia Water Radio at the Virginia Tech Duck Pond in Blacksburg on December 10, 2015. The version of “Ducks on the Pond” heard in this episode is by Timothy Seaman, part of the medley “Virginia Rail Reel/Ducks on the Pond/Old Blue,” from the 2004 album “Virginia Wildlife,” on Pine Wind Records, used with permission; that album was done in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (now the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources).  More information about Timothy Seaman is available online at http://timothyseaman.com/en/.  This music was used previously by Virginia Water Radio in Episode 398, 12-11-17. The tune “Ducks on the Pond” is attributed to Henry Reed (1884-1968), a native of West Virginia but a long-time resident of Glen Lyn in Giles County, Virginia; more information about Henry Reed is available online at http://www.henryreed.org/.   Information on the tune is available from The Traditional Tune Archive, online at “Ducks on the Pond” entry is online at http://www.tunearch.org/wiki/Ducks_on_the_Pond.  A June 1966 recording by Alan Jabbour of the tune being played by Mr. Reed is available from the Library of Congress, online at https://www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000072/; at this site, the tune is referred to as “Ducks in the Pond.” Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. IMAGES The following photos of the ducks featured in this Virginia Water Radio episode were taken from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov.  More details and specific URLs for each photo are given below the photos; all specific URLs were as of 11-8-23.Canvasback male; location and date not identified.  Photo by Lee Karney.  Specific URL for the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/6798/rec/3.Canvasback male; location and date not identified.  Photo by Lee Karney.  Specific URL for the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/6798/rec/3. Common Goldeneye in 2003, location not identified.  Photo by Gary Kramer.  Specific URL for the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/34171/rec/3.Green-winged Teal male (left) and female; location and date not identified.  Photo by Dave Menke.  Specific URL for the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/3728/rec/2.Hooded Merganser male; location and date not identified.  Photo by Tim McCabe.  Specific URL for the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/1085/rec/4.Mallard female and brood at Cheney Lake, Anchorage, Alaska, June 2005.  Photo by Donna Dewhurst.  Specific URL for the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/50/rec/32.Northern Shoveler male (right) and female at Westchester Lagoon in Anchorage Alaska; date not identified.  Photo by Donna Dewhurst.  Specific URL for the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/699/rec/2.Wood Duck male in California, date not identified.  Photo by Lee Kearney.  Specific URL for the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/17774/rec/4. EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT THE DUCK SPECIES HEARD IN THIS EPISODE Following are the scientific names, and information on occurrence in Virginia, for the seven duck species heard in this episode.  Occurrence information (including quotes) is from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/, using the “Occurrence” tab at the individual entry for each species; each bird's common name is linked to its individual entry. Canvasback – Scientific name is Aythya valisineria.  Occurrence in Virginia: “[N]onbreeder and a locally common to abundant transient and winter resident (10 November to 10 April) on the coast, ...chiefly near the Chesapeake Bay and in Back Bay.  They are uncommon inland and a rare winter visitor in the mountains and valleys.” Common Goldeneye – Scientific name is Bucephala clangula.  Occurrence in Virginia: winter resident in much of Tidewater Virginia and a few counties farther west. Green-winged Teal – Scientific name is Anas crecca.  Occurrence in Virginia: “This is a common transient and winter resident on the Coastal Plain, and uncommon inland.  Peak counts occur along the coast during the winter.” Hooded Merganser – Scientific name is Lophodytes cucullatus.  Occurrence in Virginia: “This is a casual breeder.  It is a transient, winter resident, and summer visitor throughout the state.  It is common on the Coastal Plain, and uncommon to common in the rest of the state.  Peak counts occur along the coast during December.” Mallard – Scientific name is Anas platyrhynchos.  Occurrence in Virginia: “This is an abundant transient and winter resident, and a common summer resident in the Coastal Plain.  It is a common transient and winter resident, uncommon summer resident elsewhere.  Peak counts occur along the coast in the fall.” Northern Shoveler – Scientific name is Anas clypeata.  Occurr

It is an inevitability that as a birder ages, they lose the ability to hear some birds, particularly those with high pitched songs and calls. It is a struggle that nature recordist Lang Elliot has dealt with for decades, but he offers, with the help of modern technology, a solution of sorts called Hear Birds Again. Lang has also written an article introducing this new product in the July 2023 issue of Birding magazine.  Also, does Merlin really help in a Breeding Bird Survey? FInally we have data! Sort of.  Subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify, and please leave a rating or a review if you are so inclined! We appreciate it!    

Atonal snores, sonorous gurgles - it's all part of the dance of the soundscape. In this episode we continue to explore the soundscape with nature recordist Lang Elliot, with some wonderfully textured sounds recorded in La Cienega's National Conservation area in Arizona. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (5:12).Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments ImagesSourcesRelated Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 3-17-23. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the weeks of March 20 and March 27, 2023. MUSIC – ~24 sec – Lyrics: “We are on a ship, a great big ship.  It takes all of us to take care of it.  And we can use the stars to navigate our trip.  We are riding on a ship.” “That's part of “On a Ship,” by Blacksburg, Va., musician Kat Mills.  It opens an episode about two recent international meetings on our planetary ship's ocean waters.  Have a listen for about 15 seconds to sounds of two ocean-going creatures—a Humpback Whale, and a Leach's Storm-Petrel—and see if you know what aspect of ocean biology was a key focus of the meetings.  And here's a hint: you've got this, if you've got a lot of different living things in the sea. SOUNDS  - ~17 sec If you guessed marine biodiversity, you're right!  According to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, biodiversity means, quote, “the variety of life on Earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems, and can encompass the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural processes that sustain life,” unquote.  In early March 2023, two international gatherings focused on biodiversity in marine waters, including in what's called the “high seas,” the waters and ocean floor areas that are more than 200 nautical miles from any nation's shores and are not under any single nation's jurisdiction.  According to the Marine Conservation Institute, the high seas cover about half of the Earth's surface, contain great biodiversity, and are among the least-protected areas on Earth. On March 2 and 3, the eighth Our Ocean Conference was held in Panama, with participants from government, business, and non-profits making voluntary commitments for $20 billion towards protecting marine areas, addressing marine pollution, helping indigenous coastal communities, and other objectives.  Since 2014, Our Ocean Conference participants have made over 1800 commitments worth over $100 billion.  Meanwhile, at a United Nations conference on March 4 in New York, a majority of the world's nations agreed on language for a so-called “High Seas Treaty,” in the works since 2004.  If ultimately ratified by individual countries, it would facilitate protected areas, fund marine conservation, provide guidelines for marine genetic resources, and provide capacity building and technology transfer to developing states. Both meetings are part of a worldwide effort called 30 by 30, that is, by 2030 to conserve and restore 30 percent of the world's land and oceans important for biodiversity, a target set at a U.N. biodiversity conference in Montreal in December 2022. Thanks to Kat Mills for permission to use “On a Ship”; to the National Park Service for the Humpback Whale sound; and to Lang Elliott for the Leach's Storm-Petrel sound, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs.  We close with another musical selection whose title and tune may conjure up images of the oceans.  Here's about 15 seconds of “Driftage,” by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand. MUSIC - ~17 sec – instrumental [start at about [5:14 and go to abrupt end at 5:30]. SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “On a Ship,” from the 2015 album “Silver,” is copyright by Kat Mills, used with permission.  More information about Kat Mills is available online at http://www.katmills.com/.  This music was used previously by Virginia Water Radio most recently in Episode 609, 12-27-21. The Humpback Whale sound was from the National Park Service ‘Sound Gallery,” online at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/sound/sounds-humpback-whale.htm, as of 3-16-23. The Leach's Storm-Petrel sound was from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot's work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. “Driftage,” from the 2004 album of same name, is copyright by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand and Great Bear Records, used with permission.  More information about Andrew and Noah and their bands is available online at https://andrewandnoah.bandcamp.com/music. Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. IMAGES Humpback Whale.  Image from the NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] Photo Library, “NOAA's Ark/Whales,” online at https://photolib.noaa.gov/Collections/NOAAs-Ark; the URL for the specific photo was https://photolib.noaa.gov/Collections/NOAAs-Ark/Whales/emodule/722/eitem/30376, as of 3-21-23.Wilson's Storm-Petrels.  Photo by Lieutenant Elizabeth Crapo, accessed in the NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] Photo Library, “NOAA's Ark/Birds,” online at https://photolib.noaa.gov/Collections/NOAAs-Ark; the URL for the specific photo was https://photolib.noaa.gov/Collections/NOAAs-Ark/Birds/emodule/727/eitem/28716, as of 3-21-23.SOURCES Used for Audio Elizabeth Claire Alberts, “Panama ocean conference draws $20 billion, marine biodiversity commitments,” March 6, 2023, online at https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/panama-ocean-conference-draws-20-billion-marine-biodiversity-commitments/. American Museum of Natural History, “What is Biodiversity?”  Online at https://www.amnh.org/research/center-for-biodiversity-conservation/what-is-biodiversity. Audubon, “Leach's Storm-Petrel,” online at https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/leachs-storm-petrel. Michael Casey, “Historic biodiversity agreement reached at UN conference,” Associated Press, December 19, 2022. Catrin Einhorn, “Nations Agree on Language for Historic Treaty to Protect Ocean Life; The United Nations agreement is a significant step toward protecting biodiversity under growing threat from climate change, overfishing and seabed mining,” New York Times, March 4, 2023. Catrin Einhorn, “Nearly Every Country Signs On to a Sweeping Deal to Protect Nature,” New York Times, December 20, 2022. Christina Larson and Patrick Whittle, “Nations reach accord to protect marine life on high seas,” AP [Associated Press] News, March 5, 2023. Marine Conservation Institute, “Protecting the High Seas,” online at https://marine-conservation.org/high-seas/. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, “Indonesian Delegation Successfully States Commitment to Protecting the Marine Environment at the Our Ocean Conference 2023,” March 3, 2023. NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] Fisheries, “Humpback Whale,” online at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/humpback-whale. Our Ocean Panama March 2-3. 2023, online at https://ouroceanpanama2023.gob.pa/, as of 3/16/23. St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Board, “Editorial: Developing accord could vastly improve oceans' survival chances,” March 12, 2023. United Nations, “UN delegates reach historic agreement on protecting marine biodiversity in international waters,” UN News, March 5, 2023. United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, online at https://www.cbd.int/article/cop15-final-text-kunming-montreal-gbf-221222, “COP15: Final text of Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” December 22, 2022, News Release. United Nations Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, online at https://www.un.org/bbnj/. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), “USAID Announces New Programs to Protect Our Ocean at the 2023 Our Ocean Conference,” March 3, 2023. Worldwide Fund for Nature, “Whales Without Boundaries – Why the High Seas Matter,” online at https://wwfwhales.org/news-stories/whales-without-boundaries-why-the-high-seas-matter. John Yang and Lorna Baldwin, “Historic deal to protect ocean biodiversity reached at UN conference,” PBS NewsHour, March 5, 2023.  [6 min./45 sec. video with transcript.] For More Information about Biodiversity in Oceans and Elsewhere National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), online at https://www.noaa.gov/. Some of the agency's many specific topic pages are the following:“Biological Diversity and Related Issues,” online at https://www.noaa.gov/biological-diversity-and-related-issues;“Ocean Exploration Facts,” online at https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/facts.html;“Marine Life,” online at https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/marine-life;“U.S. Marine Biodiversity Observing Network,” online at https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/apr16/mbon.html. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Birds” and “Mammals” subject categories. Following is a link to a previous episode on biodiversity (generally in Virginia, not specifically marine biodiversity). Episode 260, 4-6-15 – Biodiversity in Virginia and the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Following are links to some previous episodes on organisms inhabiting oceans. Episode 399, 12-18-17 – Whales in Song, Sound, and Migration Past Virginia.Episode 542, 9-14-20 – Dolphins in Sound and Music.Episode 551, 11-16-20 – Sea Creatures Sound Off. FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode's audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in the episode's post. 2020 Music SOLs SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.” 2018 Science SOLs Grades K-4: Living Systems and Processes2.5 – Living things are part of a system.3.5 – Aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems support a diversity of organisms. Grades K-5: Earth and Space Systems3.7 – There is a water cycle and water is important to life on Earth.4.7 – The ocean environment. Grades K-5: Earth Resources3.8 – Natural events and humans influence ecosystems.4.8 – Virginia has important natural resources. Grade 66.6 – Water has unique physical properties and has a role in the natural and human-made environment.6.8 – Land and water have roles in watershed systems.6.9 – Humans impact the environment and individuals can influence public policy decisions related to energy and the environment. Life ScienceLS.6 – Populations in a biological community interact and are interdependent.LS.8 – Change occurs in ecosystems, communities, populations, and organisms over time.LS.9 – Relationships exist between ecosystem dynamics and human activity. Earth ScienceES.6 – Resource use is complex.ES.10 – Oceans are complex, dynamic systems subject to long- and short-term variations. BiologyBIO.8 – Dynamic equilibria exist within populations, communities, and ecosystems. 2015 Social Studies SOLs Grades K-3 Economics Theme2.8 – Natural, human, and capital resources.3.8 – Understanding of cultures and of how natural, human, and capital resources are used for goods and services. United States History: 1865-to-Present CourseUSII.9 – Domestic and international issues during the second half of the 20th Century and the early 21st Century. Civics and Economics CourseCE.6 – Government at the national level.CE.10 – Public policy at local, state, and national levels. World Geography CourseWG.2 – How selected physical and ecological processes shape the Earth's surface, including climate, weather, and how humans influence their environment and are influenced by it.WG.4 – Types and significance of natural, human, and capital resources.WG.18 – Cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve

Sound objects or sensory immersion? It's all in the ear of the beholder as we explore the soundscape with nature sound recordist Lang Elliot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (5:56).Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments ImagesSourcesRelated Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 12-30-22. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of January 2, 2023. MUSIC – ~26 sec –Lyrics: “Bluer than the Blue Ridge, I was out at sea.  Further than the farthest, Till you came for me.   You're always welcome to this plunder, I was over my head, I am under, under your spell.” That's part of “Under,” by The Steel Wheels.”  It's one of the songs heard on Virginia Water Radio in 2022, and it opens our annual episode where we listen back to some of the previous year's sounds and music.  We start with a medley of mystery soundsand voices.  Have a listen for about 50 seconds, and see how many you recognize. SOUNDS AND VOICES - ~51 sec 1.  Voices:  “The James River.  The Ohio River.  Dismal Swamp of Virginia and North Carolina.” 2.  Voices: “American Sycamore.” “Atlantic White-cedar.”  “Baldcypress.  Black Gum.” 3.  Voices: “Buttonbush.”  “Coastal Dog-hobble.”  “Elderberry.”  “Possum-haw.” 4.  Coyotes and Gray Treefrogs. 5.  Great Yellowlegs. 6.  Voices: “And we are here on the banks of the Clinch River in St. Paul, Virginia, today to talk about the Eastern Hellbender, which is one of our most unique amphibians here in Virginia and the central Appalachians.”  “Remember: healthy forests produce clean water.”  “And I hope you join us for another edition of ‘Fifteen Minutes in the Forest.'  Have a great weekend.” If you knew all of most of those, you're a 2022 water-year winner!You heard names of some water places connected to U.S. civil rights history;names of some trees that grow in or near water, followed by names of some shrubs that do so;coyotes and Gray Treefrogs on a July night;the Greater Yellowlegs bird; andexcerpts from the video series “Fifteen Minutes in the Forest,” produced by Virginia Cooperative Extension's Forest Landowner Education Program. Thanks to Blacksburg friends for the call-outs; to Lang Elliott for permission to use the Greater Yellowlegs sound, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs; and to Jen Gagnon for permission to use excerpts from “Fifteen Minutes in the Forest.” We close out 2022 with a two-minute sample of music heard this year, with parts of ““Witch Hazel,” by Tom Gala; “New Spring Waltz,” by the late Madeline MacNeil; “Try to Change It,” by Bob Gramann; and “Rainy Night,” by the group Wake Up Robin.  Thanks to all the musicians who gave permission to use their music, and thanks to Janita Baker for permission to use Madeline MacNeil's music. So long to 2022, and here's hoping for a 2023 with interesting sounds, evocative music, and the water the world needs. MUSIC – ~108 sec 1.  From “Witch Hazel” - Lyrics: “And I tell my heart be strong, like the Witch Hazel flower, and you will not be injured by this dark and troubled time.” 2.  From “New Spring Waltz” - Instrumental.  3.  From “Try to Change It” - Lyrics: “Try to change it, but I can't change it; locomotive rolls on through hills and snow and rain.  Try to change it, why can't I change it; strength of will, push and pull, I'm bettin' on that train.  Strength of will, push and pull, I'm bettin' on that train.”. 4.  From “Rainy Night” - Instrumental.  SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. Sounds Used and Their Previous 2022 Virginia Water Radio Episodes (Listed in the order heard in this episode's audio) The people calling out names of water-related places connected to U.S. civil rights history were recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Blacksburg, Va., in March 2022.  This was featured in Episode 619, 3-7-22. The people calling out names of some trees that grow in or near water were recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Blacksburg, Va., in Virginia Water Radio on April 21, 2022.  This was featured in Episode 626, 4-25-22.  The shrub name call-outs were recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Blacksburg on June 14-15, 2022.  This was featured in Episode 630, 6-20-22. The Coyote and Gray Treefrog sounds were recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Blacksburg, Va., on July 5, 2022, at approximately 10:15 p.m.  This was featured in Episode 634, 8-15-22. The sounds of the Greater Yellowlegs was taken from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot's work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/.  This was featured in Episode 636, 9-12-22. The excerpts from the “Fifteen Minutes in the Forest” series were taken from the following episodes: “Eastern Hellbenders,” Episode 68, January 2022; “Best Management Practices for Water Quality,” Episode 19, September 2020; and “How Clean is Your Creek,” Episode 26, November 2020; used with permission of Jennifer Gagnon, Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Conservation and the Virginia Cooperative Extension's Forest Landowner Education Program.  The full video series is available online at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOhBz_SGRw8UZo9aAfShRbb-ZaVyk-uzT.  This was featured in Episode 637, 9-26-22. Musical Selections Used and Their Previous 2022 Virginia Water Radio Episodes (Listed in the order heard in this episode's audio) “Under,” from the 2019 album “Over the Trees,” is copyright by The Steel Wheels, used with permission.  More information about The Steel Wheels is available online at https://www.thesteelwheels.com/.  This music was used in Episode 630, 6-20-22, on shrubs. “Witch Hazel,” from the 2011 album “Story After Story,” is copyright by Tom Gala, used with permission.  More information about Tom Gala is available online at https://open.spotify.com/artist/0kG6YXrfGPB6lygJwOUNqO. This music was used in Episode 639, 10-24-22, on the Witch Hazel plant. “New Spring Waltz” is from Madeline MacNeil's 2002 album “Songs of Earth & Sea”; copyright held by Janita Baker, used with permission.  More information about Madeline MacNeil is available from Ms. Baker's “Blue Lion Dulcimers & Guitars” Web site, online at https://www.bluelioninstruments.com/Maddie.html.  This music was used in Episode 627, 5-9-22, on some spring songbirds. “Try to Change It,” from the 2001 album “See Farther in the Darkness,” is copyright by Bob Gramann, used with permission.  More information about Bob Gramann is available online at https://www.bobgramann.com/folksinger.html.  This music was used in Episode 611, 1-10-22, on the 2022 Virginia General Assembly opening. “Rainy Night,” from the 2018 album “Wake Up Robin,” on Great Bear Records, by the group of the same name, is used with permission of Andrew VanNorstrand.  More information about the album and band is available online at https://wakeuprobin.bandcamp.com.  This music was used in Episode 642, 11-21-22, on water-related things for which people are thankful. IMAGES (Unless otherwise noted, photographs are by Virginia Water Radio.)An Image Sampler from Episodes in 2022 From Episode 616, 2-14-22: Sculpture in Birmingham, Alabama's, Kelly Ingram Park, recalling fire hoses being used on civil rights protestors in the 1960s.  Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, March 3, 2010.  Accessed from the Library of Congress, online at https://www.loc.gov/item/2010636978/, 2/15/22.From Episode 621. 3-21-22: “Benefits of Trees” poster from the Virginia Department of Forestry, accessed online at https://dof.virginia.gov/education-and-recreation/learn-about-education-recreation/benefits-of-tree/, 12-30-22. From Episode 626. 4-25-22: Swamp Tupelo photographed at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach, Va., July 9, 2021.  Photo by iNaturalist user karliemarina, made available online at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/86317064(as of 4-25-22) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.”  Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.From Episode 630, 6-20-22: Silky Dogwood beside Stroubles Creek in Blacksburg, Va., June 9, 2022.From Episode 636, 9-12-22: Greater Yellowlegs, photographed at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia, August 11, 2022.  Photo by iNaturalist user kenttrulsson, made available online at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/132685927(as of 9-12-22) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.”  Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

Sebastian and Rutendo celebrate nature's defenders in all their forms. They argue that vultures should get more credit for their vital role as scavengers. Their super-acidic stomachs kill off deadly bacteria, like anthrax, that accumulates onrotting carcasses. This prevents the spread of disease and recycles nutrients back into the environment.Molecular biologist Mike Kolomiets tells us that the fragrance of newly mown grass isactually a scream for help and a warning to nearby plants that a herbivore is around. Grass can defend itself by releasing toxic metabolites and summoning the assistance of parasitic wasps that attack plant-eating caterpillars.We hear from prominent Brazilian climate activists Sônia Guajajara and Celia Xakriabá, both of whom believe that inidigenous women have a vital role to play inthe fight to preserve Brazil's vast biodiversity.Biologist and comedian Simon Watt argues that to protect the biodiversity of our planet we need to be less fixated on cute creatures which are “lucky enough to havea face”, and take more interest in Earth's ugly animals.Credits:The BBC Earth podcast is presented by Sebastian Echeverri and Rutendo Shackleton.This episode was produced by Rachel Byrne and Geoff Marsh.The researchers were Seb Masters and Dawood Quereshi.The Production Manager was Catherine Stringer and the Production Co-ordinator was Gemma Wootton.Podcast Theme Music was composed by Axel Kacoutié, with mixing and additional sound design by Peregrine Andrews.The Associate Producer is Cristen Caine and the Executive Producer is Deborah Dudgeon.Special thanks to:Mike Kolomiets from Texas A&M University for sharing his research into grass.Simon Watt from the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.Alice Aedy for the report from Brazil and her interviewees Sônia Guajajara, Célia Xakriabá.Interviewee Carl Gerhardt from University of Missouri and Lang Elliot for the amphibious soundscape. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:27).Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments ImagesExtra Information Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 9-9-22. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the weeks of September 12 and September 19, 2022. SOUNDS – ~2 sec – short examples of calls by Greater Yellowlegs (first) and Lesser Yellowlegs (second). In this episode, we feature two shorebirds whose long, colorful legs are a distinctive mark.  Have a listen for about 20 seconds and see if you can guess the name shared by these two species that's based on that characteristic.  And here's a hint: the name rhymes with what a person eats when they get two scrambled for breakfast. SOUNDS  - ~21 sec If you guessed yellowlegs, you're right!  You heard, first, the Greater Yellowlegs, and second, the Lesser Yellowlegs.  Both are known as “marsh sandpipers” or simply “marshpipers” because they're in the family of shorebirds called sandpipers and they prefer marshes or other wetland habitats.  Greater Yellowlegs are also sometimes called “tattlers” because of their noisy alarm calls.  The two species are the only tall sandpipers in North America with legs colored bright yellow or sometimes orange.  They're distinguished from one another by the somewhat larger size of the Greater Yellowlegs, by that species' bigger and slightly upturned bill, and by differences between their calls.  Both species breed in the tundra or forests of Canada and Alaska, and both then migrate to spend winter in the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, or South America.  The Lesser Yellowlegs is typically found in Virginia only during migration, but the Greater Yellowlegs can be found wintering along Virginia's coast.  These birds hunt in shallow water and on mud flats for their prey of fish, frogs, and a variety of invertebrate animals, such as insects, worms, snails, and shrimp. If you're visiting coastal Virginia between fall and spring and you're watching the birds, here's hoping you encounter some yellow-legged ones wading in shallow waters to find their food. Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use the yellowlegs' sounds, from the Stokes' Field Guide to Bird Songs, and we let the Greater Yellowlegs have the last call. SOUNDS – ~5 sec SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of “Cripple Creek” to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The sounds of the Greater Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot's work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. IMAGES Greater Yellowlegs, photographed at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia, August 11, 2022.  Photo by iNaturalist user kenttrulsson, made available online at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/132685927(as of 9-12-22) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.”  Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.Lesser Yellowlegs, at Virginia Beach, Va., May 3, 2022.  Photo by iNaturalist user hikerguy150, made available online at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/116695303(as of 9-12-22) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.”  Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT GREATER YELLOWLEGS AND LESSER YELLOWLEGS The following information is excerpted from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, “Yellowlegs,” text by Richard Carstensen (undated), updated by David Tessler in 2007, online (as a PDF) at https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/education/wns/yellowlegs.pdf. “Mixed assemblages of small shorebirds combing our coastal wetlands in spring are likely to be accompanied by several yellowlegs, immediately recognizable by their greater size. As the “peeps” scurry over the mud and along the waters edge, the yellowlegs, with a more careful, heron-likeelegance, wade out into ponds and sloughs in search of different prey.“General description: Yellowlegs can be distinguished from other shorebirds by the long, straight oralmost imperceptibly upturned bill and the very long, bright yellow legs.  The neck is longer and moreslender than that of most shorebirds. ...Distinguishing betweenthe two...species of yellowlegs is more difficult.  Plumage of the two birds is nearly identical.  None of the following distinctions are completely reliable by themselves, and if possible they should be used in conjunction with each other.  When seen together, as often occurs in migration, the greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) stands9-10 inches high (0.25 m), taller than the lesser yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes).  The greater yellowlegs has a somewhat thicker bill than the lesser, and it may turn upward very slightly, while that of the lesser yellowlegs is slighter and quite straight.  The calls of the two species are distinctive.  The greater yellowlegs has a louder and clearer call, often uttered in a three- or four-note sequence, ‘kyew kyew kyew,' with a falling inflection to each syllable.  The lesser yellowlegs tends to call once or twice.  Both species of yellowlegs have a ‘yodeling' song in addition to the better known sharp alarm calls.  This song is given either from the ground or during display flights and has been variously interpreted as ‘toowhee, toowhee,' ‘tweda, tweda,' or ‘whee-oodle, whee-oodle.'  It is heard both on the breeding grounds and in migration. ... “Life history: ...Fall migration begins in late July and lasts through September.  Primary routes are midcontinental (mostly west of the Mississippi River) in spring and both midcontinental and along the Atlantic coast in fall.  Wintering yellowlegs are scattered along the coasts from South America through California and Oregon.  In South America, birds concentrate where shallow lagoons and brackish herbaceous marshes lie adjacent to the outer coast.  Flooded agricultural fields, especially rice fields, have also become important.  In mild years greater yellowlegs winter as far north as southern Vancouver Island. “Behavior and feeding: The exaggerated legs of the Tringa genus are best explained by the custom of feeding in the water, often wading out beyond the belly depths of less elevated relatives.  Among shorebirds, long bills usually accompany long legs for the same reason.  The greater yellowlegs is an accomplished fisher, at times preying almost exclusively on small estuarine fishes such as sticklebacks and sculpins.  Sometimes groups of feeding yellowlegs will form lines, wading abreast to corner fish in the shallows.  Both yellowlegs, particularly the lesser, also eat invertebrates.  Adults and larvae of aquatic insects such as water boatmen, diving beetles, dragonfly nymphs, and flies are important in the diet, as are sand fleas and intertidal amphipods.  Terrestrial invertebrates such as ants,grasshoppers, snails, spiders and worms are also taken.  In spite of the length of the yellowlegs bill, it is rarely used for probing in sand or mud.  The greater yellowlegs will swing its bill from side to side in the water; the lesser yellowlegs does not. “Both yellowlegs breed in the boreal forest and the transitions between forest and tundra in wet bogs and open muskegs. During migration, both species frequent brackish tidal sloughs and mudflats, as well as the edges of freshwater lakes and ponds.  Lesser yellowlegs occasionally swim, an unusual practice amongshorebirds.  The lesser yellowlegs seems somewhat more gregarious than the greater, although both are seen in loose flocks.” SOURCES Used for Audio Alaska Department of Fish and Game, “Yellowlegs,” text by Richard Carstensen (undated), updated by David Tessler in 2007, online (as a PDF) at https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/education/wns/yellowlegs.pdf. Chandler S. Robbins et al., A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2001. Chesapeake Bay Program, “Birds,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/all/birds/all.  The Greater Yellowlegs entry is online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/greater_yellowlegs; there was no entry for Lesser Yellowlegs (as of 9-9-22). Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org.  The Greater Yellowlegs entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Greater_Yellowlegs/; the Lesser Yellowlegs entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Lesser_Yellowlegs/. Hugh Jennings, “Bird of the Month: Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs,” Eastside Audubon, August 23, 2018, online at https://www.eastsideaudubon.org/corvid-crier/2019/8/26/greaterlesser-yellowlegs. Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson, Life in the Chesapeake Bay, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2006. Stan Tekiela, Birds of Virginia Field Guide, Adventure Publications, Inc., Cambridge, Minn., 2002. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries):Fish and Wildlife Information Service, online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/.  The Greater Yellowlegs entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040130&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19244; the Lesser Yellowlegs entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040131&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19244. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “List of Native and Naturalized Fauna in Virginia, August 2020,” online (as a PDF) at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/virginia-native-naturalized-species.pdf. For More Information about Birds in Virginia or Elsewhere University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, “Animal Diversity Web,” online at https://animaldiversity.org. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Birds of the World,” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home (subscription required). Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Merlin,” online at http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/.  This site and its accompanying mobile app allow identification of birds by photo or sound.Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “eBird,” online at https://ebird.org/home.  Here

Keith Salmon is a world-renowned nature videographer. He shares with Katherine how he was inspired by a series of distressing dreams to leave his academic job to become more connected to nature. He eventually found his calling as a videographer. We talk about the ability of animals to be present in their environment while humans have been sheltered from the consequences of their actions. Keith brings up the idea of Indra's net of gems as a way of thinking about this web of natural relationships and says that nature invites us to become a gem in a net of gems. We then talk about how to work with the animals that show up in our dreams. Keith recommends exploring our own associations and then also to dig into the science around these animals to find out who they really are. There are times when we can follow our dream animals into waking life by visiting their habitats. Keith then shared some of his own stories about following his dream animals into waking life, and we talk about the quality of enchantment that happens as the veil between dreamtime and awake time thins. We take a call from Sylvia from northern Ontario. She reminds us that we dream not only about wild animals, but also about domesticated animals such as our pets and also talks about how when she dreams for global healing, which is a part of her regular practice, that the dreams that come are often about nature and stillness and peace. Keith quotes several memorable passages, one from writings by Eagle Chief Letakos-Lesa of the Pawnee People, and one from David Wagoner which encourages us that when we feel lost, we should stand still and let the forest find us. And finally he quotes the following: “Once for each thing. Just once; no more. And we too, just once. And never again. But to have been this once, completely, even if only once: to have been at one with the earth, seems beyond undoing.” — Rainer Maria Rilke (Duino Elegies) We played clips from nature sound recordist Lang Elliot: the Cades Cove Coyotes and the Symphony of Loons, both of which are available on SoundCloud. Bio: Ronald Keith Salmon was raised on a small sheep farm on Vancouver Island, Canada. This intimacy with animals ignited a sense of wonder in the mystery and the miracle of the Natural World. To deepen this sense of wonder, Keith studied animal science at university—where he received a B.Sc. in Animal Science and a Ph.D. in Animal Genetics. After a tenure as a Professor of Animal Biotechnology, Keith's dreams led him to leave the academic world to engage more directly with the animals and plants who share this planet. Keith interweaves original videography, poetry, prose, sound, and song to explore the intimate relationship between the Natural World and the World of Dreams. His work represents a constellation of the insights and revelations gained through his lifelong exploration of Nature's mysteries through the lenses of both biological science and art—and his 35-year apprenticeship in the study of dreams. Keith's performances and presentations awaken a sense of wonder where the creatures in our dreams may become mentors who provide guidance on how we may walk in beauty on this earth. You can connect with Keith Salmon and see some of his nature videos at truenature.earth Live ambient music by Rick Kleffel. Show aired on July 23, 2022 rebroadcast from May 1, 2021. The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM, streaming live at KSQD.org 10-11am Saturday mornings Pacific time.  Catch it live and call in with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773 or at onair@ksqd.org. If you want to contact Katherine Bell with feedback, suggestions for future shows or to inquire about exploring your own dreams with her, contact katherine@ksqd.org, or find out more about her at ExperientialDreamwork.com. The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page can be found at ksqd.org/the-dream-journal. You can also check out The Dream Journal on the following podcast platforms:  Rate it, review it, subscribe and tell your friends. Apple Podcasts Google Play Stitcher  Spotify

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (5:05).Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments ImagesExtra Information Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 5-6-22. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the weeks of May 9 and May 16, 2022.   This episode from is part of a series this year of episodes related to trees and shrubs. MUSIC – ~14 sec – instrumental. That's part of “New Spring Waltz,” by the late Madeline MacNeil, who was a well-known and highly regarded musician based in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Each new spring brings a chance to focus on the life cycles of wildlife.  This mid-spring episode of Water Radio explores some connections among nesting birds, trees, and water.  Have a listen for about 30 seconds to three mystery sounds, and see if you know these three bird species who nest in trees near water, either always or at least sometimes.  And here's a hint: you'll be singing a melodious trill, if you hit this mystery out of the park. SOUNDS  - 29 sec. If you guessed two warblers and an oriole, you're right!  And you get bodacious bird bragging rights if you recognized, first, the Prothonotary Warbler; second, the Northern Parula, also a kind of warbler; and third, the bird for which Baltimore's baseball team is named, the Baltimore Oriole.  All three of these songbirds are found in Virginia in the spring and summer breeding season.  During that period, the Prothonotary Warbler is common in Virginia's central and southern Coastal Plain and can occasionally be found in some other parts of the Commonwealth; the Baltimore Oriole is common outside of the Coastal Plain; and the Northern Parula is common statewide.  The three species show a range of attachment to water-side trees as their nesting habitat.  The Prothonotary Warbler is particularly known for nesting in cavities in trees around water; in fact, the bird is sometimes called the “Swamp Warbler” in the southeastern United States.  The Northern Parula typically nests in trees along rivers and wetlands, especially in areas where it can find the materials it prefers for making its hanging nests: Spanish Moss or a kind of stringy lichen; this bird is also known to make nests out of debris left in trees after floods.  The Baltimore Oriole is the least water-attached of these three species, being found nesting high in trees in many areas outside of deep woods, including parks and yards; however, streamsides are among the species preferred areas for the bird's fibrous, hanging nests. If you're near streams, rivers, or wetlands and you see or hear any of these three birds, look to nearby trees for cavities or hanging materials that may be harboring the birds' next generation. Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use the bird sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs.  Thanks also to Janita Baker of Blue Lion Dulcimers and Guitars for permission to use Madeline MacNeil's music, and we close with about 25 more seconds of “New Spring Waltz.” MUSIC – ~26 sec – instrumental. SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “New Spring Waltz” is from Madeline MacNeil's 2002 album “Songs of Earth & Sea”; copyright held by Janita Baker, used with permission.  More information about Madeline MacNeil is available from Ms. Baker's “Blue Lion Dulcimers & Guitars” Web site, online at https://www.bluelioninstruments.com/Maddie.html. The sounds of the Baltimore Oriole, Northern Parula, and Prothonotary Warbler were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot's work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. IMAGES Baltimore Oriole at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, W. Va., August 2015.  Photo by Michelle Smith, made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov; the specific URL for the photograph washttps://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/17342/rec/2, as of 5-9-22.Northern Parula at Kennebago Lake in Maine, July 2011.  Photo by Bill Thompson, made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov; the specific URL for the photograph was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/12961/rec/1, as of 5-9-22.Prothonotary Warbler bringing food to its nest in South Carolina, March 2012.  Photo by Mark Musselman, made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov; the specific URL for the photograph was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/14152/rec/3, as of 5-9-22. EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT THE BIRDS IN THIS EPISODE The scientific names of the birds in this episode are as follows: Baltimore Oriole – Icterus galbula;Northern Parula – Setophaga Americana (formerly Parula americana);Prothonotary Warbler – Protonotaria citrea. SOURCES Used for Audio Chesapeake Bay Program, “Birds,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/all/birds/all.  The Baltimore Oriole entry is online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/baltimore_oriole. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org.The Baltimore Oriole entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Baltimore_Oriole;the Northern Parula entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Parula/;the Prothonotary Warbler entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Prothonotary_Warbler. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Birds of the World,” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home (subscription required). The Baltimore Oriole entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/balori/cur/introduction; the Northern Parula entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/norpar/cur/introduction; the Prothonotary Warbler entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/prowar/cur/introduction. Merriam-Webster, “Warble,” online at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/warble. Chandler S. Robbins et al. A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, St. Martin's Press, New York, N.Y., 2001. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries):“Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/.The Baltimore Oriole entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040348&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19117;the Northern Parula entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040312&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19117;the Prothonotary Warbler entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040303&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19117. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “List of Native and Naturalized Fauna in Virginia, August 2020,” online (as a PDF) at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/virginia-native-naturalized-species.pdf. For More Information about Birds in Virginia and Elsewhere Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Merlin Photo ID.”  The application for mobile devices allows users to submit a bird photograph to get identification of the bird. Information is available online at http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society, “eBird,” online at https://ebird.org/home.  Here you can find locations of species observations made by contributors, and you can sign up to contribute your own observations. Stan Tekiela, Birds of Virginia Field Guide, Adventure Publications, Inc., Cambridge, Minn., 2002. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, “Animal Diversity Web,” online at https://animaldiversity.org/. Virginia Society of Ornithology, online at http://www.virginiabirds.org/.  The Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study, conservation, and enjoyment of birds in the Commonwealth. Xeno-canto Foundation, online at http://www.xeno-canto.org/.  This site provides bird songs from around the world.  For More Information about Trees and Shrubs in Virginia and Elsewhere Center for Watershed Protection, “Trees and Stormwater Runoff,” online at https://www.cwp.org/reducing-stormwater-runoff/. Chesapeake Bay Program, “Field Guide: Plants and Trees,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/all/plants_trees/all. eFloras.org, “Flora of North America,” online at http://www.efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id=1. Sanglin Lee and Alan Raflo, “Trees and Water,” Virginia Water Resources Research Center, Virginia Water Central Newsletter, pages 13-18, online at https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/49367.   (A Virginia Cooperative Extension version of this article—“Trees and Water,” by Sanglin Lee, Alan Raflo, and Jennifer Gagnon, 2018—with some slight differences in the text is available online at https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/pubs_ext_vt_edu/en/ANR/ANR-18/ANR-18NP.html.) Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension, “How Trees Grow,” online at https://agrilife.org/treecarekit/introduction-to-tree-care/how-trees-grow/. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, Forests of Virginia, 2018, Resource Update FS-264, Asheville, N.C., 2020; available online at https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/59963. U.S. Department of Agriculture/U.S. Forest Service, “State and Private Forestry Fact Sheet—Virginia 2022,” online (as a PDF) at https://apps.fs.usda.gov/nicportal/temppdf/sfs/naweb/VA_std.pdf. U.S. Department of Agriculture/Forest Service/Climate Change Resource Center, “Forest Tree Diseases and Climate Change,” online at https://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/topics/forest-disease. U.S. Department of Agriculture/Forest Service/Northern Research Station (Newtown Square, Penn.), “Forest Disturbance Processes/Invasive Species,” online at https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/disturbance/invasive_species/.” U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)/Natural Resources Conservation Service, “PLANTS Database,” online at https://plants.usda.gov. Virginia Botanical Associates, “Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora,” online at http://www.vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=start&search=Search. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation/Natural Heritage Division, online at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/. Virginia Department of Forestry, “Virginia's Forests,” online at https://dof.virginia.gov/.  Some of the useful pages at that site are the following:“Benefits of Trees,”

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (5:31).Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Images Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 12-24-21. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of December 27, 2021.  SOUND - ~ 5 sec That's the sound of a Belted Kingfisher at Stroubles Creek in Blacksburg, Va., on December 21, 2021.  The year-end chattering of Virginia Water Radio's favorite bird sets the stage for our annual look-back on Water Radio's year.  We start with a medley of mystery sounds and voices from six episodes in 2021.  Have a listen for about 40 seconds, and see how many you recognize. SOUNDS – ~38 sec If you guessed all of most of those, you're a water-sound world champion! You heard Brimley's Chorus Frog;Virginia Tech graduate Maddy Grupper discussing her research on public trust in water systems;Virginia Tech's siren used for tornado warnings;names of some 2021 Atlantic tropical cyclones;Canvasback ducks; andice on Claytor Lake in Pulaski County, Va. Thanks to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources for permission to use the chorus frog sound; to Lang Elliott for the Canvasback sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs; to Maddy Grupper for the episode on her research; and to Blacksburg friends for the tropical cyclone name call-outs. We close out 2021 with a two-minute sample of music heard in episodes this year.  Here are excerpts of “Wade in the Water,” by Torrin Hallett; “Racing the Sun,” by the Faux Paws; “All Creatures Were Meant to Be Free,” by Bob Gramann; “John Ashe's Spring,” by New Standard; “The Coming Spring,” by Andrew VanNorstand with vocalist Kailyn Wright; and “On a Ship,” by Kat Mills, with violinist Rachel Handman. Thanks to those musicians for permission to use their music. So long, soon, to 2021, and here's hoping for a safe, sound, and sufficiently hydrated 2022. MUSIC – ~105 sec From “Wade in the Water” - ~18 sec – instrumental. From “Racing the Sun” - ~20 sec – instrumental. From “All Creatures Were Meant to be Free” - ~10 sec – instrumental. From “John Ashe's Spring” - ~13 sec – instrumental. From “The Coming Spring” - ~20 sec – Lyrics: “I went outside, the rain fallin' on the branches bare.   And I smiled, ‘cause I could feel a change in the air.” From “On a Ship” - ~25 sec – Lyrics: “We are riding on a ship.” SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sounds Used and Their Previous 2021 Virginia Water Radio Episodes (Listed in order heard in this episode's audio) The Belted Kingfisher sound was recorded by Virginia Water Radio at Stroubles Creek in Blacksburg, Va., December 21, 2021. The sound of Brimley's Chorus Frog was from “The Calls of Virginia Frogs and Toads” CD, copyright 2008 by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (now the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources) and Lang Elliott/NatureSoundStudio, used with permission.   The CD accompanies A Guide to the Frogs and Toads of Virginia, Special Publication Number 3, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; as of February 5, 2021, that publication is no longer available at Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources online store, https://www.shopdwr.com/.  For more information, contact the Department at P.O. Box 90778, Henrico, VA 23228-0778; phone: (804) 367-1000 (VTDD); main Web page is https://dwr.virginia.gov/; to send e-mail, visit https://dwr.virginia.gov/contact/.  This sound was used in Episode 563, 2-8-21. Virginia Tech 2020 graduate Maddy Grupper discussed her research on public trust in water systems in Episode 564, 2-15-21. The tornado-warning siren was recorded in Blacksburg, Va., in the early morning of April 28, 2011.  This sound was used in Episode 568, 3-15-21. The call-out of Atlantic tropical cyclone names for the 2021 season were recorded by Blacksburg friends of Virginia Water radio in June 2021.  The voices were sued in Episode 580, 6-7-21. The sounds of Canvasback ducks were sound were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot's work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, online at https://musicofnature.com/.  These sounds were used in Episode 604, 11-22-21. The Claytor Lake ice sound was recorded at the Sloan Creek inlet of the lake, near Draper in Pulaski County, Va., on January 6, 2018. This sound was used in Episode 606, 12-6-21. Musical Selections Used and Their Previous 2021 Virginia Water Radio Episodes (Listed in order heard in this episode's audio) The arrangement of “Wade in the Water” (a traditional hymn) heard in this episode is copyright 2021 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission.  Torrin is a 2018 graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio; a 2020 graduate in Horn Performance from Manhattan School of Music in New York; and a 2021 graduate of the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver.  He is currently a graduate student at the Yale School of Music.  More information about Torrin is available online at https://www.facebook.com/torrin.hallett.  Thanks very much to Torrin for composing this arrangement especially for Virginia Water Radio.  This music was used in Episode 566, 3-1-21, water in U.S. civil rights history. “Racing the Sun,” from the 2021 album “The Faux Paws,” is copyright by Great Bear Records, used with permission of Andrew VanNorstrand.  More information about The Faux Paws is available online at https://thefauxpawsmusic.com/.  More information about Great Bear Records is available online at https://www.greatbearmusic.com/.  This music was used in Episode 602, 11-8-21, on photosynthesis, including its connection to climate change. “All Creatures Were Meant to Be Free,” from the 1995 album “Mostly True Songs,” is copyright by Bob Gramann, used with permission.  More information about Bob Gramann is available online at https://www.bobgramann.com/.  This music was used in Episode 561, 1-25-21, on the Northern Harrier. “John Ashe's Spring,” from the 2016 album “Bluegrass,” is copyright by New Standard, used with permission.  The title refers to a spring near Ivy, Virginia (Albemarle County).  More information about New Standard is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com.  This music was used in Episode 576, 5-10-21, an introduction to springs. “The Coming Spring,” from the 2019 album “That We Could Find a Way to Be,” is copyright by Andrew VanNorstrand, used with permission.  More information about Andrew VanNorstrand is available online at https://www.andrewvannorstrand.com/.  Information on accompanying artists on “The Coming Spring” is online at https://andrewvannorstrandmusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-coming-spring.  This music was used in Episode 572, 4-12-21, on warblers and spring bird migration. “On a Ship,” from the 2015 album “Silver,” is copyright by Kat Mills, used with permission.  Accompanying artists on the song are Ida Polys, vocals; Rachel Handman, violin; and Nicholas Polys, banjo.   More information about Kat Mills is available online at http://www.katmills.com/.  This music was used in Episode 602, 11-8-21, on photosynthesis, including its connection to climate change. IMAGESAn Image Sampler from Episodes in 2021 From Episode 561, 1-25-21: Northern Harrier, photographed in southeastern Virginia, January 23, 2021.  Photo by iNaturalist user keyojimbo, made available online at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/68521040(as of 12-27-21) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.”  Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.From Episode 563, 2-8-21: Brimley's Chorus Frog, photographed in Chesapeake, Virginia, February 28, 2019.  Photo by iNaturalist user jkleopfer, made available online at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/20834796(as of 2-8-21) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.”  Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.From Episode 580, 6-7-21: Predictions for the 2021 Atlantic tropical storm season.  Graphic from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “NOAA Predicts Another Active Atlantic Hurricane Season,” 5/20/21, online at https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/noaa-predicts-another-active-atlantic-hurricane-season.From Episode 602, 11-8-21: Diagram explaining carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake by trees and other woody plants during photosynthesis, resulting in carbon storage, or “carbon sequestration,” a key concept in the issue of climate change.  Diagram courtesy of John Seiler, Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation.From Episode 606, 12-6-21: Thin ice on a pond in Heritage Park, Blacksburg, Va., December 9, 2021.SOURCES Please see the episodes mentioned and hyperlinked above under “Audio Notes and Acknowledgments” for sources of information about the topics of the individual episodes. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Overall Importance o

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:33).Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments ImagesExtra Information Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 11-19-21. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of November 22, 2021.  This revised episode from January 2014 is part of a series this year of winter-related episodes. SOUND – ~5 sec That's the landing sound of a large, distinctive duck that can be found in winter on Virginia's coastal waters.  Have a listen for about 10 seconds to some more of this species' sounds, and see if you know this bird.  And here's a hint: the bird's name, and the male's beautiful color, may remind you of a painting.SOUND – ~12 secIf you guessed a Canvasback, you're right!  Canvasbacks breed on water bodies in the prairies of Canada and the northern United States, but they winter in large sections of the U.S. and Mexico, with one concentration in the Chesapeake Bay area.  According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, at one time almost half of North America's Canvasbacks wintered around the Chesapeake, but that number has decreased to about 20 percent because of reductions in Bay submerged aquatic vegetation, or Bay grasses, a valuable winter food for this species.  Canvasbacks are diving ducks, meaning they typically go completely underwater to obtain food and avoid predators.  In winter, Canvasbacks feed largely on plant roots and buds, while in summer they'll add to their plant diet a variety of aquatic insects and other animals.  Predators on adult and young Canvasbacks include mink, coyotes, foxes, owls and other birds, some reptiles and fish, and human hunters, while Canvasback eggs are eaten by various mammals and birds. The Canvasback is considered one of the most distinctive North American ducks.  The following quote from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's “Birds of the World” Web site describes how the bird stands out.  Quote: “This exclusively North American species is considered the ‘aristocrat of ducks.'  The male's striking appearance—rich chestnut-red head and neck, black chest, white back, and long, sloping, blackish bill—along with its large size distinguish it in the field.”  Unquote. Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use the Canvasback sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs.  We close with about 50 seconds of music appropriate for the Canvasback's Chesapeake Bay connection.  Here's “Chesapeake Bay Ballad,” by Torrin Hallett, a graduate student at the Yale School of Music. MUSIC - ~51 sec – instrumental SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 197, 1-20-14, and the sounds segment of Episode 50, 1-24-11. Emily Whitesell helped write this original script for this episode during a Virginia Tech English Department internship in Spring 2011 with the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. The Canvasback sounds were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot's work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. “Chesapeake Bay Ballad” is copyright 2020 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission.  Torrin is a 2018 graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio; a 2020 graduate in Horn Performance from Manhattan School of Music in New York; and a 2021 graduate of the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver.  He is currently a graduate student at the Yale School of Music.  More information about Torrin is available online at https://www.facebook.com/torrin.hallett.  Thanks very much to Torrin for composing the piece especially for Virginia Water Radio.  This music was used previously by Virginia Water Radio most recently in Episode 565, 2-22-21. Following are other music pieces composed by Torrin Hallett for Virginia Water Radio, with episodes featuring the music.“A Little Fright Music” – used most recently in Episode 601, 10-31-21, on connections among Halloween, water, and the human body.“Beetle Ballet” – used in Episode 525, 5-18-20, on aquatic beetles.“Corona Cue” – used in Episode 517, 3-23-20, on the coronavirus pandemic. “Flow Stopper” – used in Episode 599, 10-18-21, on “Imagine a Day Without Water.”“Geese Piece” – used most recently in Episode 440, 10-1-18, on E-bird. “Ice Dance” – used in Episode 556, 12-21-20, on how organisms survive freezing temperatures.“Lizard Lied” – used in Episode 514, 3-2-20, on lizards. “New Year's Water” – used in Episode 349, 1-2-17, on the New Year. “Rain Refrain” – used most recently in Episode 559, 1-11-21, on record rainfall in 2020.“Runoff” – used in Episode 585, 7-12-21 – on middle schoolers calling out stormwater-related water words.“Spider Strike” – used in Episode 523, 5-4-20, on fishing spiders.“Tropical Tantrum” – used most recently in Episode 580, 6-7-21, on the 2021 Atlantic tropical storm season preview.“Tundra Swan Song – used in Episode 554, 12-7-20, on Tundra Swans.“Turkey Tune” – used in Episode 343, 11-21-16, on the Wild Turkey.  Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. IMAGESMale Canvasback (location and date not identified).  Photo by Lee Karney, made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov; specific URL for this photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/1645/rec/2), as of 11/22/21.Female Canvasback in Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge in Alaska in May 2005.  Photo by Donna A. Dewhurst, made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov; specific URL for this photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/14/rec/9), as of 11/22/21.EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT CANVASBACK DUCKS The scientific name of the Canvasback is Aythya valisineria. Here are some points about Canvasbacks, excerpted from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service/Canvasback,” online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040064&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18949.Physical Description “The adult male has a head that is rusty red, shading to almost black near the bill.  The breast is grayish-black and the sides and back are light gray to white.  The wings and speculum are gray, and the eye is red.  The bill is long and sloping, black, with decidedly long sloping profile that clearly distinguishes it from the redhead. …The adult female head is light brown.  The sides and breast are olive-brown to gray-brown, and the underparts are light gray. The back is gray, finely barred with darker gray, and the wings are grayish brown.  …They have short wings, and a rapid wingbeat.  This species has difficulty leaving the water.  It is one of the fastest flying ducks.  …It is one of the largest ducks.”Breeding “The breeding season is from May to June… This species breeds in Alaska, western Canada, northwest United States, western North America from the prairie provinces of Canada, south into the central and western states and occasionally as far east as Hudson Bay with a few as far north as Alaska.  Spring and early summer they are found in marshes with shallow waters [and in] flooded farmland.  In mid-summer they frequent large marshes and lakes, sloughs, and swampy areas.” Migration and Winter Habitat and Behavior “During migration, they fly in large ‘V' shaped flocks at high altitudes. … They are also associated with larger bodies of water.  …Late migration is in the fall, and early migration in the spring.  This species migrates cross country from the northwestern United States to the Atlantic Coast, principally the Chesapeake Bay.  The migration corridors shift annually, and they have a strong tendency to return to the same breeding ground.  … The heaviest flight is from the Canada pothole country to the Chesapeake Bay. … They arrive at Chesapeake Bay later than most other ducks.  The Chesapeake Bay fall migration is from October 15 to December 15, with a peak from November 15 to December 15.  The spring migration is from February 20 to May 1, with the peak from March 1 to March 30.  They occupy specific and traditional rivers, lakes, and marshes on migratory areas.  … This species winters to Mexico [and to the] Atlantic and Gulf Coast.  ...Virginia is one of best areas for canvasbacks.  …  They are found in lakes, salt bays and estuaries, brackish and alkaline waters near the coast, estuaries and shallow bays, [and] rarely on the open sea. … The optimum in Chesapeake Bay areas is in fresh and brackish estuarine bays with extensive beds of submerged plants or abundant invertebrates, primarily in brackish rather than salt or freshwater areas. … There has been a 53% decline in wintering populations in the United States.  There has also been a decrease in the Atlantic flyway.”  [Population decreases have been caused by several factors, including drainage of breeding marshland, food supplies being depleted by carp and swan, pollution of wintering areas, disappearance of submerged aquatic vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay, droughts on breeding grounds, oil spills, and illegal hunting and trapping.] Diet “This species dives and obtains food from the bottoms of ponds, lakes, large rivers, open marshes, and muddy bottoms.  Plants are uprooted and the roots are eaten.  This species dives to 20-30 feet. … Important foods include…aquatic plants…, molluscs, insects, caddisfly and midge larvae, dragonflies, [and] small fish.  Chesapeake Bay foods include wild celery, widgeon grass, eelgrass, pondweed, clams and mud crabs.  Juvenile foods include caddisfly larvae, midge larvae, and mayfly nymphs.” SOURCES Used for Audio Mike Burke, “The big, beautiful canvasback: What's not to love?”  Bay Journal, November 2021, available online at https://www.bayjournal.com/eedition/page-43/page_136f4325-b978-5e55-bcec-907f0a04b1fc.html. Chesapeake Bay Program, “Birds,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/all/birds/all; the Canvasback entry is online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/canvasback. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/.  The Canvasback entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Canvasback/. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Birds of the World” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home(subscription may be required).  The Canvasback entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/canvas/cur/introduction. Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson, Life in the Chesapeake Bay-3rdEdition, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2006. Chandler S. Robbins et al., A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, St. Martin's Press, New York, N.Y., 2001. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/; the Canvasback entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040064&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18949. For More Information about Birds in Virginia and Elsewhere Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Merlin Photo ID.”  The application for mobile devices allows users to submit a bird photograph to get identification of the bird. Information is available online at http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society, “eBird,” online at https://ebird.org/home.  Here you can find locations of species observations made by contributors, and you can sign up to contribute your own observations. Stan Tekiela, Birds of Virginia Field Guide, Adventure Publications, Inc., Cambridge, Minn., 2002. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, “Animal Diversity Web,” online at https://animaldiversity.org/. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “List of Native and Naturalized Fauna in Virginia, August 2020,” online (as a PDF) at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/virginia-native-naturalized-species.pdf. Virginia Society of Ornithology, online at http://www.virginiabirds.org/.  The Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study, conservation, and enjoyment of birds in the Commonwealth. Xeno-canto Foundation, online at http://www.xeno-canto.org/.  This site provides bird songs from around the world. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Birds” and “Weather/Climate/Natural Disas

CLICK HERE to  listen to episode audio (4:30).Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Images Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 8-16-21. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of June 28, 2021.  This is a revised version of an episode from August 2013. MUSIC – ~11 sec – instrumental That's part of “Bass Fisherman's Reel,” an adaptation of a traditional tune called “Fisher's Hornpipe,” by Williamsburg musician Timothy Seaman on his 2004 album, “Virginia Wildlife.”  The music sets the stage for a “reel” story about fishing equipment and a summer bird of prey.  We start with a series of mystery sounds.  Have a listen for about 20 seconds, and see if you can guess how the first two sounds add up to the third. And here's a hint: misplaced line makes for a tangled, feathered fisher.SOUNDS - ~19 secIf you guessed, an Osprey running afoul of some fishing line, you're right!  You heard he call of an Osprey, or “Fish Hawk,”; the sound of fishing line, being reeled in; and part of a rescue of an Osprey chick stuck in fishing line.  The latter sound was taken from the “Osprey Cam,” the Chesapeake Conservancy's real-time video transmission from an Osprey nest on Kent Island, Maryland.  On July 29, 2013, the camera showed that one of that year's three chicks had gotten its legs caught in fishing line.  Some viewers of the bird's predicament went to the site, waded out to the nest with a ladder, and climbed up and disentangled the chick. Unwittingly, this lucky Osprey chick had starred in a documentary about the value of fishing-line recycling stations.  Birds, sea turtles, and other animals can get stuck in, or eat, improperly discarded fishing line, nets, or other plastic items.  Such material can also get caught in boat propellers or intakes.  Recycling programs for fishing line are one way to help reduce these threats.  Virginia began a statewide fishing-line recycling program in 2009, run jointly by the Department of Wildlife Resources—formerly the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries—and the Marine Resources Commission.  Recycling is now available at many boat ramps, parks, and marinas, as well as at some outdoor-equipment businesses.  At those locations, anglers can look for the distinctive plastic tubes with a curved top, and help put plastic back to use, instead of on a beak or fin. Thanks to Lang Elliot and the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs, to Timothy Seaman, and to the Chesapeake Conservancy, respectively, for permission to use this week's sounds of an Osprey, fishing line, and the Osprey chick rescue.  Thanks also to Mr. Seaman for this week's music, and we close with about 20 more seconds of “Bass Fisherman's Reel.” MUSIC – ~20 sec – instrumental SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 175, 8-19-13.The Osprey call sounds were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot's work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. The fishing line sound and musical excerpt from “Bass Fisherman's Reel,” on the 2004 album “Virginia Wildlife,” is copyright Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission.  More information about Timothy Seaman is available online at https://timothyseaman.com/en/.The sounds of the rescue of an Osprey chick caught in fishing line were taken from a video recorded by the Chesapeake Conservancy's “Osprey Cam,” available online at http://www.chesapeakeconservancy.org/Osprey-Cam, used with permission.  For more information about the camera or the Conservancy, contact the Conservancy at 716 Giddings Avenue, Suite 42, Annapolis, Maryland 21401; phone (443) 321-3610; e-mail: info@chesapeakeconservancy.org. Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. IMAGES Young Osprey in Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia.  Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), made available for public use by the USFWS' National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov.  The specific URL for this image was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/12049/rec/9, as of 8-16-21.Osprey in flight, 2016 (location not identified).  Photo by Alvin Freund, made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov.  The specific URL for this image was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/17870/rec/11, as of 8-16-21.Fishing-line recycling container at South Holston Lake, Washington County, Virginia, April 15, 2013. SOURCES Used for Audio Boat US Foundation, online at https://www.boatus.org/clean-boating/recycling/fishing-line-recycling/. Chesapeake Conservancy, “Webcams/Osprey,” online at https://www.chesapeakeconservancy.org/ospreycam. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation, “Commission, “Reel. Remove. Recycle – Don't Leave Your Line Behind,”online at https://mrrp.myfwc.com/. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org.  The Osprey entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Osprey/.  Video from an Osprey camera at Savannah, Georgia, is available online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/savannah-ospreys/. Outdoor News, “State Agencies Initiate Fishing Line Recycling Program,” 2/10/09. [Easton, Md.] Star Democrat, Osprey cam chick Ozzie is rescued, 8/7/13. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries):“Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/; the Osprey entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040095&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18845; “Recycle Your Fishing Line” is online at https://dwr.virginia.gov/fishing/recycle-your-line/. Virginia Marine Resources Commission, “Introducing the Virginia Fishing Line Recycling Program,” online at https://mrc.virginia.gov/rec_assessment/VFLRP_AD.shtm. For More Information about Birds in Virginia and Elsewhere Chesapeake Bay Program, “Birds,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/all/birds/all. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Birds of the World,” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home(subscription required). Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Merlin Photo ID.”  The application for mobile devices allows users to submit a bird photograph to get identification of the bird. Information is available online at http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society, “eBird,” online at https://ebird.org/home.  Here you can find locations of species observations made by contributors, and you can sign up to contribute your own observations. National Audubon Society, online at https://www.audubon.org/. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, “Animal Diversity Web,” online at https://animaldiversity.org/. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “List of Native and Naturalized Fauna in Virginia, August 2020,” online (as a PDF) at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/virginia-native-naturalized-species.pdf. Virginia Society of Ornithology, online at http://www.virginiabirds.org/.  The Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study, conservation, and enjoyment of birds in the Commonwealth. Xeno-canto Foundation, online at http://www.xeno-canto.org/.  This site provides bird songs from around the world. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Birds,” ‘Overall Importance of Water,” and “Recreation” subject categories. FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode's audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post. 2020 Music SOLs SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.” 2018 Science SOLs Grades K-4: Living Systems and Processes2.5 – Living things are part of a system.4.3 – Organisms, including humans, interact with one another and with the nonliving components in the ecosystem. Grades K-5: Earth ResourcesK.11 – Humans use resources.1.8 – Natural resources can be used responsibly, including that most natural resources are limited; human actions can affect the availability of natural resources; and reducing, reusing, and recycling are ways to conserve natural resources.3.8 – Natural events and humans influence ecosystems.4.8 – Virginia has important natural resources. Grade 66.9 – Humans impact the environment and individuals can influence public policy decisions related to energy and the environment. Life ScienceLS.9 – Relationships exist between ecosystem dynamics and human activity. Earth ScienceES.6 – Resource use is complex.ES.8 – Freshwater resources influence and are influenced by geologic processes and human activity. BiologyBIO.8 – Dynamic equilibria exist within populations, communities, and ecosystems, including that natural events and human activities influence local and global ecosystems and may affect the flora and fauna of Virginia. 2015 Social Studies SOLs Civics and Economics CourseCE.3 – Citizenship rights, duties, and responsibilities.CE.7 – Government at the state level.CE.10 – Public policy at local, state, and national levels. Government CourseGOVT.8 – State and local government organization and powers.GOVT.9 – Public policy process at local, state, and national levels.Virginia's SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/. Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels. Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rdgrade.Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5thgrade.Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4ththrough 8th grade.Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.

Click to listen to episode (4:26) Sections below are the following:Transcript of AudioAudio Notes and AcknowledgmentsImagesSourcesRelated Water Radio EpisodesFor Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 4-12-21. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of April 12, 2021.  This revised episode from April 2013 is part of a series this year of spring-related episodes. MUSIC – ~ 18 sec – Lyrics: “I went outside, the rain fallin’ on the branches bare.   And I smiled, ‘cause I could feel a change in the air.” That’s part of “The Coming Spring,” on Andrew VanNorstand’s 2019 album, “That We Could Find a Way to Be,” featuring Kailyn Wright on vocals.  It opens an episode about the feathered “changes in the air” that take place each spring in Virginia.  We start with a series of mystery sounds.  Have a listen for about 15 seconds, and see if you can guess what’s making these three different high-pitched songs, each heard just once.  And here’s a hint: These small creatures make big journeys, twice a year.SOUNDS  - ~12 sec If you guessed warblers, you’re right!  And if you’re an experienced birder, you may have recognized the songs of a Bay-breasted Warbler, Palm Warbler, and Tennessee Warbler.  These three species breed in Canada and the northern United States, but they winter in Central and South America, and they’re among the birds that may pass through Virginia during spring or fall migration.  Virginia’s location along the Atlantic coast and Chesapeake Bay allows Commonwealth birders to have a chance to see songbirds, waterfowl, and birds of prey that migrate along the broad, eastern North American route known as the Atlantic Flyway, one of four main migratory routes on this continent.  For example, while about 100 bird species breed in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, over 200 species have been identified there, particularly during the spring migration from April to June. The Colorado-based organization Environment for the Americas, which has helped coordinate an annual World Migratory Bird Day, has called bird migration, quote, “one of the most important and spectacular events in the Americas.”  Virginia’s part of that spectacle, every spring and fall. Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use the three warbler species sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs.  Thanks also to Andrew VanNorstrand for permission to use part of “The Coming Spring.”  We close with part of another song, whose title captures how many people may feel about spring’s arrival after a long winter.  Here’s about 20 seconds of “At Long Last,” by the Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Va.-based band, The Steel Wheels, from their 2011 album, “Live at Goose Creek.” MUSIC – ~ 22 sec – instrumental SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 157, 4-15-13, The sounds of the Bay-breasted Warbler, Palm Warbler, and Tennessee Warbler were taken from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot’s work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. “The Coming Spring,” from the 2019 album “That We Could Find a Way to Be,” is copyright by Andrew VanNorstrand, used with permission.  The music was used previously by Virginia Water Radio in Episode 509, 1-27-20.  More information about Andrew VanNorstrand is available online at https://www.andrewvannorstrand.com/. “At Long Last,” from the 2011 album “Live at Goose Creek,” is copyright by The Steel Wheels, used with permission.  More information about The Steel Wheels is available online at https://www.thesteelwheels.com/. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. IMAGESNorth American migratory bird flyways.  Map by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, accessed online at https://www.fws.gov/birds/management/flyways.php, 4/9/21.    Bay-breasted Warbler painting originally published between 1827 and 1838 by John James Audubon in Birds of America (plate 154).  Image made available for public use by the National Audubon Society, online at https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america; specific URL for this image is https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/bay-breasted-warbler. Palm Warbler painting originally published between 1827 and 1838 by John James Audubon in Birds of America (plate 163).  Image made available for public use by the National Audubon Society, online at https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america; specific URL for this image is https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/palm-warbler.Tennessee Warbler painting originally published between 1827 and 1838 by John James Audubon in Birds of America (plate 154).  Image made available for public use by the National Audubon Society, online at https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america; specific URL for this image is https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/tennessee-warbler. SOURCES Used for Audio Chandler S. Robbins et al., A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2001. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org.The Bay-breasted Warbler entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bay-breasted_Warbler.The Palm Warbler entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Palm_Warbler.The Tennessee Warbler entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tennessee_Warbler. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Birds of the World,” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home(subscription required).The Bay-breasted Warbler entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/babwar/cur/introduction.The Palm Warbler entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/palwar/cur/introduction.The Tennessee Warbler entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/tenwar/cur/introduction. Environment for the Americas, “World Migratory Bird Day,” online at http://www.birdday.org/birdday. Stan Tekiela, Birds of Virginia Field Guide, Adventure Publications, Inc., Cambridge, Minn., 2002. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Great Dismal Swamp National Refuge, “Wildlife and Habitat,” online at https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Great_Dismal_Swamp/wildlife_and_habitat/index.html.  The Refuge’s bird brochure, with checklist, is online (as a PDF) at https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Region_5/NWRS/South_Zone/Great_Dismal_Swamp_Complex/Great_Dismal_Swamp/GDSbirds.pdf. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “Migratory Bird Program,” online at https://www.fws.gov/birds/index.php.  Information on bird migratory flyways is online at https://www.fws.gov/birds/management/flyways.php. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/.  Warblers are online at this link.The Bay-breasted Warbler entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040324&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18726.The Palm Warbler entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040329&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18726.The Tennessee Warbler entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040309&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18726. ___, “List of Native and Naturalized Fauna in Virginia, April 2018,” online (as a PDF) at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/virginia-native-naturalized-species.pdf. For More Information about Birds in Virginia and Elsewhere Chesapeake Bay Program, “Birds,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/all/birds/all. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Merlin Photo ID.”  The application for mobile devices allows users to submit a bird photograph to get identification of the bird. Information is available online at http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society, “eBird,” online at https://ebird.org/home.  Here you can find locations of species observations made by contributors, and you can sign up to contribute your own observations. National Audubon Society, online at https://www.audubon.org/. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, “Animal Diversity Web,” online at https://animaldiversity.org/.Virginia Society of Ornithology, online at http://www.virginiabirds.org/.  The Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study, conservation, and enjoyment of birds in the Commonwealth. Xeno-canto Foundation Web site, online at http://www.xeno-canto.org/.  This site provides bird songs from around the world. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Birds” subject category. Following are links to other spring-themed episodes.  (Please note: some of these may be redone in spring 2021.  As that occurs, the links below will include directions to the blog post for the updated episodes.) Eastern Phoebe – Episode 416, 4-16-18.Frog and Toad Medley – Episode 408, 2-19-18.Spring arrival episode – Episode 569, 3-22-21.Spring forest wildflowers – Episode 212, 5-5-14.Spring Peepers – Episode 570, 3-29-21.Spring reminder about tornado awareness – Episode 568, 3-15-21.Spring signals for fish – Episode 571, 4-5-21.Spring sounds serenades – Episode 206, 3-14-14 and Episode 516, 3-16-20.FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post. 2020 Music SOLs SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”

Click to listen to episode (4:04)Sections below are the following:Transcript of AudioAudio Notes and AcknowledgmentsImagesExtra InformationSourcesRelated Water Radio EpisodesFor Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 1-22-21. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of January 25, 2021. MUSIC – ~14 sec – instrumental That’s part of “Midwinter Etude,” by Timothy Seaman, of Williamsburg, Va.  It opens an episode about a kind of hawk that’s commonly found around eastern Virginia marshlands in wintertime.  Have a listen for about 10 seconds to the following mystery sound, and see if you know this bird of prey. [Clarification, not in audio: “raptor” is a more precise term for hawks and related birds than is “bird of prey.”]  And here’s a hint: what might you call a cross-country runner located far north of Virginia? SOUNDS  - ~11 sec If you guessed a Northern Harrier, you’re right!  Besides being a name for cross-country runners, harrier refers to a group of birds within the family that includes hawks, eagles, and kites.  The Northern Harrier is the only harrier species found in North America.  Occurring widely across the continent, this species sometimes is a summer breeder in southeastern coastal Virginia, but it’s more typically found in the Commonwealth during winter.It was formerly called the Marsh Hawk because it’s frequently found around marshes, as well as in meadows, grasslands, and other open, vegetated areas.  In these areas, it flies low over the ground in search of its usual prey of small mammals, other birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects.  Northern Harriers are also capable of taking larger prey like rabbits and ducks, and    they’ve been reported to overcome some of these larger animals by drowning them.  The Northern Harrier’s face looks somewhat like that of an owl, and, according to the National Audubon Society, the bird also resembles owls in using sharp hearing to help locate its prey.  As Alice and Robert Lippson put it in their book, Life in the Chesapeake Bay, quote, “Northern Harriers have an owl-like facial disc that apparently concentrates the sound of its prey; couple this with its keen eyesight, and mice and voles are in constant jeopardy of becoming lunch.” Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use the Northern Harrier sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs.  Thanks also to Timothy Seaman for permission to use part of “Midwinter Etude.”  We close with a little more music, in honor of all wild creatures, including harriers and other hawks.  Here’s about 10 seconds of “All Creatures Were Meant to Be Free,” by Bob Gramann of Fredericksburg, Va.  MUSIC – ~12 sec – instrumental SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “Midwinter Etude,” from the 1996 album “Incarnation,” is copyright by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission.  More information about Mr. Seaman is available online at http://timothyseaman.com/en/.  The Northern Harrier sounds were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot’s work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. “All Creatures Were Meant to Be Free,” from the 1995 album “Mostly True Songs,” is copyright by Bob Gramann, used with permission.  More information about Bob Gramann is available online at https://www.bobgramann.com/.  This music was previously used by Virginia Water Radio most recently in Episode 524, 5-11-20. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. IMAGES Painting of Marsh Hawk (former common name for Northern Harrier), originally published between 1827 and 1838 by John James Audubon in Birds of America (plate 356).  Image made available for public use by the National Audubon Society, online at https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america; specific URL for this image was https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/marsh-hawk, as of 1-22-21.  Northern Harrier in flight at Nantucket National Wildlife Refuge in Massachusetts, July 2011.  Photo by Amanda Boyd, made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov; specific URL for this image was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/13235/rec/1, as of 1-22-21. Northern Harrier, photographed in southeastern Virginia, January 23, 2021.  Photo by iNaturalist user keyojimbo, made available online at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/68521040(as of 1-25-21) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.”  Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT THE NORTHERN HARRIER The scientific name of the Northern Harrier is Circus hudsonius. The following information is excerpted from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service/Tundra Swan,” online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040094&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18649. Physical Description “Adult female [is] brown above and on tail bands; lighter brown below with heavy brown streaking.  [Adult] male [is] ashy gray above and on tail bands; white with cinnamon spots below; wing tips black.  [B]oth sexes have long banded tail with prominent white rump patch.  [F]lies a few feet above ground; tilting from side to side and holding its long narrow wings upwards at slight angle.” Reproduction and Behavior “[R]itualized courtship, calls, skydancing, performed by male to advertise territory; males arrive at breeding grounds ahead of females; male provides food during incubation and early nestling period by passing food items to female in flight; rarely visits nest himself….  [N]ests built on ground often in marshy areas and surrounded by low shrubs or tall grasses rather than open.  [N]est is small structure of reeds and sticks on dry ground….  Forage by slowly flying over marshes and fields, usually below 10 feet (3 meters); they generally take small mammals but also use birds, [reptiles and amphibians], and insects. Status of Population“Harriers occur in relatively low numbers as breeders in Virginia, where they may be found using both open marshes and open upland grassland habitat.  Their numbers swell during the winter with the influx of migrants, and it is this winter population that should be the focus of conservation efforts.  Like other grassland species, Harriers rely on relatively large tracts, such that preserving and restoring blocks of native grasslands is a high priority conservation action for this species.  Wintering harriers will likewise use emergent wetlands; identification, protection, and management (for example, Phragmites control) of suitable marshes will be necessary to ensure continued habitat availability for this species…” SOURCES Used for Audio Alaska Department of Fish and Game, “Sounds Wild/Northern Harrier,” 1 min./31 sec. podcast, online at https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=soundswild.episode&title=Northern%20Harrier. John James Audubon, Birds of America, online by The National Audubon Society at https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america.  The entry for the Marsh Hawk (the former common name for the Northern Harrier) is online at https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/marsh-hawk. Chesapeake Bay Program, “Field Guide/Birds,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/all/birds/all.  The Northern Harrier entry is online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/northern_harrier; “Raptors” is online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/all/birds/raptors); and “Marshes and Wetlands” is online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/marshes_wetlands/all/all. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org.  The Northern Harrier entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Harrier. Encyclopedia Britannica, “Bird of prey,” online at https://www.britannica.com/animal/bird-of-prey; and “Harrier,” online at https://www.britannica.com/animal/harrier-bird. Goddess of Never Broken blog site, “The Harrier Incident,” April 9, 2013, online at https://maibey.wordpress.com/tag/northern-harrier-drowning-prey/.  This blot post has a series of photos showing a Northern Harrier drowning an American Coot. Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson, Life in the Chesapeake Bay-3rd Edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2006, page 234. National Audubon Society, “Guide to North American Birds/Northern Harrier,” online at https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/northern-harrier. Chandler S. Robbins et al., A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, St. Martin’s Press, New York, N.Y., 2001. Stan Tekiela, Birds of Virginia Field Guide, Adventure Publications, Inc., Cambridge, Minn., 2002. University of Missouri Raptor Rehabilitation Project, “Raptor Facts,” online at http://raptorrehab.cvm.missouri.edu/raptor-facts/. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service/Northern Harrier,” online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040094&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18649. For More Information about Birds in Virginia and Elsewhere Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Birds of the World,” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home(subscription required). Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Merlin Photo ID.”  The application for mobile devices allows users to submit a bird photograph to get identification of the bird. Information is available online at http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society, “eBird,” online at https://ebird.org/home.  Here you can find locations of species observations made by contributors, and you can sign up to contribute your own observations. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, “Animal Diversity Web,” online at https://animaldiversity.org/. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, “List of Native and Naturalized Fauna of Virginia, April 2018,” online (as a PDF) at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/virginia-native-naturalized-species.pdf.Virginia Society of Ornithology, online at http://www.virginiabirds.org/.  The Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study, conservation, and enjoyment of birds in the Commonwealth. Xeno-canto Foundation Web site, online at http://www.xeno-canto.org/.  This site provides bird songs from around the world. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Birds” subject category. The Northern Harrier was one of the birds included in Episode 430, 7-23-18, on birds associated with marshes.  (Other birds featured in that episode are the Great Blue Heron, Wood Duck, Least Bittern, Common Moorhen, and Marsh Wren). Following are links to other episodes on raptors (often also referred to as “birds of prey”). Bald Eagle – Episode 375, 7-3-17.Barred Owl – Episode 382 – 8-21-17.Eastern Screech-Owl – Episode 227, 8-18-14.Osprey – Episode 116, 6-25-12; Episode 175, 8-19-13. FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post. 2020 Music SOLs SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining

Click to listen to episode (5:35) Sections below are the following:Transcript of AudioAudio Notes and AcknowledgmentsImagesSourcesRelated Water Radio EpisodesFor Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 12-24-20.TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of December 28, 2020. MUSIC – ~13 sec – instrumental That’s part of “Waiting on the Dawn,” by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand, from their 2007 album, “A Certain Tree.”  This week, as we wait for the dawn of a new year, we look back on Virginia Water Radio’s past year.  We start with a medley of mystery sounds from six episodes in 2020.  Have a listen for about 45 seconds, and see if you can identify what you hear. SOUNDS  - ~46 sec If you guessed all or most of those, you’re a 2020 water-sound wizard!You heard Wood Frogs;a Saltmarsh Sparrow;names of some 2020 Atlantic tropical cyclones;Atlantic White-sided Dolphins;a Black-necked Stilt;and a North Atlantic Right Whale. Thanks to Lang Elliott for the Saltmarsh Sparrow and Black-necked Stilt sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs; to Blacksburg friends for the tropical cyclone names; and to NOAA Fisheries for the dolphin and whale sounds.I hope that, during this difficult pandemic year, you had safe, adequate water and a chance to hear some restorative water sounds.We close out 2020 with 90-second sample of six songs heard on Water Radio this year.  Here are excerpts of “Chesapeake Bay Ballad” by Torrin Hallett; “Turtles Don’t Need No 401-K” by Bob Gramann; “River Runs Dry” by Kat Mills; “Nelson County” by Chamomile and Whiskey; “Love Rain Down” by Carbon Leaf; and “Kartune” by No Strings Attached.  Thanks to those musicians and to Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand for permission to use their music. To 2020: so long, soon; and here’s to a safe and healthy 2021.MUSIC - ~99 sec From “Chesapeake Bay Ballad” – ~15 sec – instrumental From “Turtles Don’t Need No 401-K” – ~12 sec – lyrics: “Turtles don’t need no 401-K; they sit on the rock in the sun all day.  Turtles don’t need no 401-K; it’s stuck in my head and it won’t go away.” From “River Runs Dry” – ~13 sec – lyrics: “What you gonna do when the river runs dry, when there’s no more water in your well?” From “Nelson County” – ~21 sec – lyrics: “Oh Virginia, little darling, I call your mountains home.  Nelson County, where I’ll never be alone, no, no, no, I’ll never be alone.” From “Love Rain Down” – ~24 sec – lyrics: “Well I can’t say that I was every ready, but I can sure say it was time, that I let love rain down, yeah I let love rain down.” From “Kartune” – ~14 sec – instrumental SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sounds Used The sound of Wood Frogs were recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Heritage Park in Blacksburg, Va., on February 18, 2018.  The sound was used in Episode 509, 1-27-20. The Saltmarsh Sparrow sound and the Black-necked Stilt sound were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot’s work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/.  The sparrow sound was used in Episode 511, 2-10-20; the stilt sound was used in Episode 543, 9-21-20. The call-out of the Atlantic tropical cyclone names for the 2020 season were recorded by 11 Blacksburg friends of Virginia Water radio on May 21-22, 2020.  These voices were used in Episode 526, 5-25-20. The Atlantic White-sided Dolphins sound and the North Atlantic Right Whale sound were from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, “Sounds in the Ocean,” online at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/science-data/sounds-ocean.  The dolphin sounds were used in Episode 542, 9-14-20; the whale sound was used in Episode 551, 11-16-20. Music Used “Chesapeake Bay Ballad” is copyright 2020 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission.  Torrin is a 2018 graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio, and a 2020 graduate in Horn Performance from Manhattan School of Music in New York.  As of 2020-21, he is a performance certificate candidate at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver.  More information about Torrin is available online at https://www.facebook.com/torrin.hallett.  Thanks to Torrin for composing the piece especially for Virginia Water Radio.  This music was used in Episode 537, 8-10-20.  Turtles Don’t Need No 401-K,” from the 1995 album “Mostly True Songs,” is copyright by Bob Gramann, used with permission.  More information about Bob Gramann is available online at http://www.bobgramann.com/.  This music was used in Episode 513, 2-24-20. “River Runs Dry,” by Kat Mills, is from the 2003 album “Long Time,” from Sweetcut Music; used with permission.  More information about Kat Mills is available online at http://www.sweetcut.com/kat/and at https://www.facebook.com/katmillsmusic.  This music was used in Episode 541, 9-7-20. “Nelson County,” from the 2017 album “Sweet Afton,” is copyright by Chamomile and Whiskey and County Wide Music used with permission.  More information about Chamomile and Whiskey is available online at https://www.chamomileandwhiskey.com/.  More information about County Wide Music is available online at https://countywidemusic.worldsecuresystems.com/.  This music was used in Episode 550, 11-9-20. “Love Rain Down,” from the 2013 album “Constellation Prize,” is copyright by Carbon Leaf, used with permission.  More information about Carbon Leaf is available online at https://www.carbonleaf.com/.  This music was used in Episode 547, 10-19-20. “Kartune,” from the 1992 album “Blue Roses,” is copyright by No Strings Attached and Enessay Music, used with permission.  More information about the now-retired group No Strings Attached is available online at https://www.enessay.com/index.htmland at https://www.facebook.com/No-Strings-Attached-20609132766/.  This music was used in Episode 555, 12-14-20. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. IMAGES – A Photo Sampler from Episodes in 2020 From Episode 509, 1-27-20: Wood Frog (date not available).  Photo by Elizabeth Shadle, Virginia Tech Department of Biological Sciences, used with permission.From Episode 513, 2-24-20: Snapping Turtle at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia, September 2017.  Photo by Chelsi Burns, made available by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov); specific URL for the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/27223/rec/3, as of 12/29/20.From Episode 543, 9-21-20: Black-necked Stilt photographed at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, February 28, 2009.  Photo by Steve Hillebrand, made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov; specific URL for this image is https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/15361/rec/4, as of 12-29-20.From Episode 550, 11-9-20: A summer float on the Rockfish River in Nelson County, Va. (date not available).  Photo by Michael LaChance, used with permission. From in Episode 542, 9-14-20: Bottlenose Dolphins, photographed near Virginia Beach, Va., August 9, 2020.  Photo by Ty Smith, made available on iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/56137254(as of 12-29-20) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.”  Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. SOURCES USED FOR AUDIO AND OFFERING MORE INFORMATION Please see the episodes mentioned and hyperlinked above under “Audio Notes and Acknowledgments” for sources of information about the topics of the episodes. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Overall Importance of Water” subject category. Following are links to previous “year of sounds/music” episodes.2019 – Episode 504, 12-23-192018 – Episode 452, 12-24-18 2017 – Episode 400, 12-25-172016 – Episode 348, 12-26-16 2015 – Episode 295, 12-21-15 2014 – Episode 246, 12-29-142013 – Episode 193, 12-23-13 2012 – Episode 141, 12-17-12 FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION The episodes listed and hyperlinked above under “Audio Notes and Acknowledgments” may help with various Virginia SOLs in English, Music, Science, and Social Studies.  For specific SOLs, please see the online show notes for each episode. Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/. Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels. Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12thgrade.Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8thgrade.Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rdand 4th grade.Episode 539, 8-24-20 – on basic numbers and facts about Virginia’s water resources, for 4th and 6th grade.

Click to listen to episode (4:16) Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and AcknowledgmentsImagesExtra InformationSources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 6-19-20.TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of June 22, 2020. This is a revised version of an episode from June 2013. MUSIC – ~7 sec – instrumental This week, that music opens an episode about wetland-inhabiting birds known for thinness, secrecy, and silent running among marshy vegetation.  Have a listen for about 10 seconds to this week’s mystery sounds, and see if you know this kind of bird.  And here’s a hint: this creature shares its name with a type of fence and with the track of an iron horse.  After the sounds, you’ll hear about 25 seconds more of the music, done by a Virginia composer in honor of the sound-maker. SOUNDS AND MUSIC - ~36 sec - ~10 sec sound, then ~26 sec music (instrumental) If you guessed rails, you’re right!  You heard a Virginia Rail, in a recording by Lang Elliott from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs, and the music was “Virginia Rail Reel,” by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg, on the 2004 album, “Virginia Wildlife.”  The Virginia Rail is one of nine species in Virginia in the bird family of rails, gallinules, and coots.  From the Clapper Rail to the Purple Gallinule to the Common Moorhen, rails have descriptive names, distinctive calls, and adaptations well-suited to marshy habitats.  It’s questionable whether the expression “thin as a rail” refers to this family of birds, rather than to pieces of a fence.  But there’s no question that rails’ thin bodies allow them to run, swim, feed, and nest within the dense grasses and other plants of saltwater and freshwater marshes. Of the Virginia Rail, here’s some of what 19th-Century naturalist John James Audubon wrote: quote, “Excepting our Little Partridge, I know no small bird so swift of foot as the Virginian Rail. …[A]among the thick herbage to which they usually resort, …they run to a short distance, then tack about, and again scud away in a lateral direction, so as to elude the best dog, or if likely to be overtaken, rise on wing, fly with dangling legs eight or ten yards, drop among the weeds, and run off as swiftly as before.” Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use the Virginia Rail sounds.  Thanks also to Timothy Seaman for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with a few more seconds of “Virginia Rail Reel.” MUSIC - ~11 sec – instrumental SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 165, 6-10-13. The Virginia Rail sounds were taken from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot’s work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. “Virginia Rail Reel” (part of the medley “Virginia Rail Reel/Ducks on the Pond/Old Blue”), from the 2004 CD “Virginia Wildlife,” is copyright by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music, used with permission.  Mr. Seaman’s Web site is http://www.timothyseaman.com/.  The “Virginia Wildlife” CD was a collaboration between Mr. Seaman and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. IMAGES Virginia Rail in 2010, location not identified. Photo by Dave Menke, made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov; specific URL for this photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/12858/rec/1, as of 6-22-20. Virginian Rail (now Virginia Rail) painting originally published between 1827 and 1838 by John James Audubon in Birds of America (plate CCV [205]), as reprinted in 1985 by Abbeville Press, New York.  Image made available for public use by the Audubon Society, online at https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america; specific URL for this image is https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/virginia-rail, as of 6-19-20. Map of the occurrence in Virginia of the Virginia Rail. Map accessed at the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?Menu=_.Occurrence&bova=040107&version=18432. EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT THE VIRGINIA RAIL The Virginia Rail’s scientific name is Rallus limicola. The following information on the Virginia Rail is from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040107&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18432. Physical Description“[S]mall; 9-11 inches…; long, reddish bill, rusty underparts, gray cheeks.” Reproduction and Nesting“[B]reeding season in VA [is] May to June; incubation period unknown, but not less than 15 days; eggs 5-12…; breeding behavior secretive and highly territorial, solitary nesters… Nesting is solitary, nests almost always in freshwater marsh or near fresh water though also known to nest in brackish marshes. Nesting materials: coarse grass and cattails; shallow saucer woven into surrounding marsh vegetation….” Behavior“Territoriality and home range very strong. Territoriality peaks in May and decreases to eventual winter core areas…. Forages by probing mud and extracting worms and insects. Feeds on a range of prey items including small fish, worms, larval insects, snails, slugs, caterpillars, beetles, and occasionally seeds of grasses, etc.; plant material is infrequently used; they forage in shallow water or mud by gleaning or probing. Probable predators include gulls, raccoons, fish crows, snakes, owls, and hawks.” Aquatic/Terrestial Associations[F]reshwater and brackish marshes in winter, may visit salt marshes; prefers dense habitats; commonly found in cattails.” SOURCES Used for Audio John James Audubon, “Virginia Rail,” in Birds of America, Plate 207, accessed from the Audubon Society, online at https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/virginia-rail. The quote in the audio was taken from this source. . Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org.  The Virginia Rail entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Virginia_Rail/.  Information on the family of rails, gallinules, and coots (scientific name Rallidae), is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse/taxonomy/Rallidae. Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson, Life in the Chesapeake Bay, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2006; see particularly pages 232-233. Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman, “Rail Birds,” published on Grammarphobia, 9/30/07, online at https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2007/09/rail-birds.html. Chandler S. Robbins et al., A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2001. Bryan Stevens, ‘Thin as a rail’ applies to elusive marsh bird, even if the origins of phrase remain obscure, Bristol Herald-Courier, 9/9/19. Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ “Fish and Wildlife Information Service” Web page at http://vafwis.org/fwis/?Title=VaFWIS+Species+Information+By+Name&vUT=Visitor.  The Virginia Rail entry is online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040107&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18432.  Information on all five species in Virginia called “rail” (Clapper Rail, Eastern Black Rail, King Rail, Virginia Rail, and Yellow Rail) is online at this link; information on the Sora, also considered a rail, is online at this link. For More Information about Birds in Virginia and Elsewhere Chesapeake Bay Program, “Birds,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/all/birds/all.  The Virginia Rail entry is online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/virginia_rail. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Merlin Photo ID.”  The application for mobile devices allows users to submit a bird photograph to get identification of the bird. Information is available online at http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and American Ornithologists’ Union, “Birds of the World,” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home (subscription required).  The Virginia Rail entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/virrai/cur/introduction. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society, “eBird,” online at https://ebird.org/home.  Here you can find locations of species observations made by contributors, and you can sign up to contribute your own observations. Stan Tekiela, Birds of Virginia Field Guide, Adventure Publications, Inc., Cambridge, Minn., 2002. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, “Animal Diversity Web,” online at https://animaldiversity.org/. Virginia Society of Ornithology, online at http://www.virginiabirds.org/.  The Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study, conservation, and enjoyment of birds in the Commonwealth. Xeno-canto Foundation Web site, online at http://www.xeno-canto.org/.  This site provides bird songs from around the world. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Birds” subject category. Following is the link to an episode on the American Coot, another bird in the family that includes rails. Episode 391, 10-23-17. FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript or by other information included in this post. 2013 Music SOLs SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.” 2010 Science SOLs Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme 4.9 – Virginia natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms. Grades K-6 Life Processes Theme K.7 – basic needs and processes of plants and animals. 1.5 – animals’ basic needs and distinguishing characteristics. 3.4 – behavioral and physiological adaptations. Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme 2.5 – living things as part of a system, including habitats. 3.5 – food webs. 3.6 – ecosystems, communities, populations, shared resources. 5.5 – cell structures and functions, organism classification, and organism traits. 6.7 – natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Virginia watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; health and safety issues; and water monitoring. Life Science Course LS.4 – organisms’ classification based on features. LS.8 – community and population interactions, including food webs, niches, symbiotic relationships. LS.9 – adaptations for particular ecosystems’ biotic and abiotic factors, including characteristics of land, marine, and freshwater environments. Biology Course BIO.8 – dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems. Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/. Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels. Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade. Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade. Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten. Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade. Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade. Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade. Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade. Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school. Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school. Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school. Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.

Step outside on a night in late summer and listen to the sounds of the insects. Bill and Bob have some tips on how to listen to these amazing sounds. Our sources for this episode include: Bill suggests the book "The Songs of Insects" by Lang Elliott and Wil Hershberger https://www.amazon.com/Songs-Insects-Wil-Hershberger/dp/0618663975 The Music of Nature by Lang Elliot http://www.musicofnature.com Understanding Insect Sounds: Nature's Orchestra Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEHbY-ZkzVo What are you hearing http://www.entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/buzz/i00dis.htm The Singing Insects of Summer https://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/2008/aug/060801.htm

Master bird recordist Lang Elliott joins Nate Swick to talk about his new project, a sound-recording expedition to the western US.  Lang hopes to record in a wide variety of locations and habitats, and he's documenting his journey on his website, Music of Nature, and sharing his recordings in a new podcast he has launched. Also, ABA president Jeff Gordon checks in, reporting from eastern Pennsylvania where a Black-backed Oriole has been attracting birders from all over to a nondescript neighborhood outside of Philadelphia full of people who had a front row seat to a real birding phenomenon. Plus, owl baiting and recent Rare Bird news! Thanks to Naturalist Journeys for sponsoring this episode!

The late writer C.S. Lewis said in his book, Miracles, there are two kinds of people, those who believe in miracles and those who don't. This is the story of the gray whales and their birthing sanctuary in San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja Mexico. It begins in the early 1800's, when the Grays suffered mass slaugther there at the hands of American whalers, which didn't end until 1946. By that time the whale population was critically endangered. The mother whales fought valiantly during those days to save their lives and the lives of their babies, and were nicknamed "Devilfish" by the whalers, due to their ferocity. Understandably tensions between whales and humans remained long after the whaling stopped, but then, in 1972 something wonderful happened. A miracle. Special thanks to the wonderful musicians who contributed to this episode of Our Blue World: David Arkenstone "Yosemite," Deuter "Heaven and Earth,"Alasdair Frasier "Lament for Hetch Hetchy," Andrea Centazzo "A Nord Dell Egeo," and Avalon Strings for Breakfast." Natural sounds from Lang Elliot and Paul Lloyd Warner. Recommended reading: Doug Thompsons "Whales, Touching the Mystery," and Dick Russell's "Eye of the Whale."

To have the patience of an egret. That would be something. To stand on one spiney leg for hours at a time, waiting for the perfect shrimp or crab to wander by and then to strike with long, pointed beak at incredible speed. Egrets, like ducks and geese, need wetlands to survive. But unlike waterfowl, whose flocks can number into the thousands, Egrets perfer to be alone. To add to the mystery, Egrets spend much of their time in two worlds. They love the delicate balance of a salt marsh with it's fresh and salt water, and dine on the same seafood that we do - shrimp, crab and fish. Egrets were nearly hunted to extinction at the turn of the century for their beautiful plumage. They are now protected and their numbers have recovered. The next time you go to the beach, wander into the tidal flats. If you see a majestic white bird, about three feet tall, standing impossibly still and starring intensely into the water, count yourself as lucky. You've just encountered the magical Egret. Thank you to the wonderful musicians and natural sound artists who contributed to this episode: David Arkenstone's "Yosemite" and "The Spirit of Olympia," Wayne Gratz "Ocala," Peter Buffet "Yonnondio," and "Nota Bene" from Imagine Records. Natural sounds from Lang Elliot and Dan Gibson.

In Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and parts of Canada, there are millions of shallow holes and crevices of all shapes and sizes, covering thousands of miles. This vast network of wetlands is known as the "Duck Belt" of North America, because of it's great significance to millions of migrating and nesting waterfowl. Come with me for a visit to the "prairie pothole region," after a spring rain, as we look in on a pair of mallards returning from their winter migration. Thank you to the great musicians and natural sound artists who contributed to this episode: David Arkenstone "Yosemite," Peter Buffet "Northern Morning," Spencer Brewer "Wonderland," Avalon "Strings Before Breakfast," John Jarvis "Lyrica." Waterfowl sounds from Dan Gibson and Lang Elliot.