Podcast appearances and mentions of lang elliott

Jimmy Carter did not fail us. We failed him. (I used Lang Elliott's recording of a Brown Thrasher, the state bird of Georgia, for this program.)

Chris stumbled across the original Cage while looking for the worst martial arts movies ever made. So it was only a matter of time before he picked the sequel to cover. The production of Cage II (1994) is a bit like the cinematic equivalent of an underdog pub brawl—scrappy, gritty, and utterly unapologetic. Directed by Lang Elliott, it's the kind of low-budget, direct-to-video action flick that harks back to the days when you'd stumble across VHS tapes in a bargain bin and think, "What's this? Lou Ferrigno punching people for 90 minutes? Sold!" Ferrigno, still riding the wave of his Incredible Hulk fame, teams up with fellow action stalwart Reb Brown, and together they bring all the testosterone-laden camaraderie and fight choreography you'd expect from a film like this. With the focus squarely on practical stunts and hand-to-hand combat, the production maximized what little budget they had by keeping things simple and throwing as many punches as possible. The film itself is gloriously of its time—grimy underground fight scenes, a plot that's practically wallpaper for the action, and the kind of over-the-top performances you can't help but love. Ferrigno and Brown's onscreen chemistry does most of the heavy lifting, which is fortunate because the budget didn't allow for any flashy effects or polished cinematography. It's all raw, muscle-bound energy, which, let's be honest, is exactly what the audience signed up for. Cage II may not have been a critical darling, but it found its place among fans of 90s action schlock, and that's no small feat. If you enjoy the show we have a Patreon, so become a supporter. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/thevhsstrikesback⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Plot Summary: Billy Thomas, a brain-damaged Vietnam War veteran, is once again dragged into the brutal world of underground cage fighting. Kidnapped by a criminal syndicate and forced to fight for his life, Billy must rely on his strength and instincts to survive a series of deadly matches. Meanwhile, his loyal friend Scott Monroe sets out on a mission to rescue him, battling against the ruthless criminals who are exploiting Billy for their own gain. Together, the two friends must navigate a violent and dangerous world to find freedom. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thevhsstrikesback@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/vhsstrikesback⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thevhsstrikesback/support

Not much is happening in Laura's yard yet, but things will be popping within the coming week or two. (Lang Elliott recorded the Carolina Wren's rolling trill. Laura recorded the wren's song.)

For years, nature recordist Lang Elliott came up with clever ways to hear high-pitched bird songs despite his high-frequency hearing loss. Lang teamed up with a programmer to develop an app called Hear Birds Again. Currently it's only available for iPhones, but it's able to take high-pitch bird songs and shift them down into a lower range.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

The Sirois Brothers are joined by The Jamison Brothers to discuss Private Eyes. The slapstick comedy legendary film critic called Gene Siskel “A perfect Saturday matinee.” Comedy icons Don Knotts and Tim Conway bumble their way through a web of murder and mayhem. Directed by Lang Elliott.

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

Click to listen to episode (3:54).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 9-15-23. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the weeks of September 18 and September 25, 2023.  This is a revised version of an episode from September 2014. SOUNDS - ~6 sec – Pied-billed Grebe call. This week, we feature some raucous mystery sounds from a family of diving birds.  Have a listen for about 20 seconds, and see if you can guess what's making these calls.  And here's a hint: you'll get grief if you miss this name by only one letter's sound. SOUNDS - ~ 22 sec. If you guessed grebe, you're right!  Those were some of the sounds made by the Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, and Red-necked Grebe.  Out of 22 grebe species worldwide and seven in North America, these three species are found commonly in many aquatic habitats in Virginia, with two others—the Eared Grebe and the Western Grebe—seen occasionally within the Commonwealth.  Horned Grebes and Red-necked Grebes are regular winter residents on Virginia's coasts, while the Pied-billed Grebe is typically a year-round resident on the coast and a winter resident in other regions. Grebes are known for their swimming and diving abilities; for example, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's “Birds of the World” Web site says quote, “[g]rebes rocket through the water by compressing water behind them with coordinated thrusts of their muscular legs,” unquote; and Cornell's “All About Birds” site calls the Pied-billed Grebe “part bird, part submarine.”  Lobed toes set far back on their bodies adapt grebes for swimming, and their ability to add or remove water and air from their feathers and internal air sacs helps them to float or, as needed, to submerge to escape danger or to feed.  Grebes feed on a variety of aquatic animals like fish, crustaceans, and insects; on aquatic plants sometimes; and—notably—on their own feathers.  In turn, they may be eaten by such predators as raccoons, snakes, and birds of prey. Grebes call and act aggressively during breeding season, but they may be quieter and much less noticeable during non-breeding season.   In fact, a calm pond surface might conceal a hiding grebe with only its nostrils exposed to the air, or that surface might be broken—almost silently—by a grebe emerging with a fish in its bill. Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use the grebe sounds, from the Stokes' Field Guide to Bird Songs, and we let the Pied-billed Grebe have the last call. SOUNDS - ~6 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 This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 233, 9-29-14. The sounds of the Horned Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, and Red-necked Grebe 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 Two Pied-billed Grebes on a pond in Blacksburg, Virginia, September 28, 2014.  Photo by Virginia Water Radio.Pied-billed Grebe at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge in Wyoming, April 2016.  Photo by Tom Koerner, 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 the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/23453/rec/4, as of 9-18-23.Horned Grebe with chick, at Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, June 2005.  Photo by Donna 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 the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/411/rec/41, as of 9-18-23.Red-necked Grebe pair, at Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, May 2005.  Photo by Donna 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 the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/20/rec/37, as of 9-18-23. EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT THE PIED-BILLED GREBE The following information is quoted 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/, primarily the “Life History” section of the the Pied-billed Grebe entry, online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040008&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19612. The scientific name of the Pied-billed Grebe is Podilymbus podiceps. Physical Description “This species is 12-15 inches (31-38 cm) long with a 23 inch wingspread.  It is a small, stocky bird distinguished by its short, blunt bill encircled by a broad black band with the upper portion of the bill curved downward; it is often described as chicken-like.  ...Grebes have lobed toes, feet that are placed far back on the body, and a short rudder-like tail to aid in pursuing prey underwater.” Reproduction “The nest is built by both members of the pair and is made up of flags, rushes, sedge, algae and mud and is attached to grasses, reeds or bushes in the water. ...The eggs are laid from March to September, are blue-white initially, and then turn brown.  The brown color results from the adults covering the eggs with wet organic matter when they are foraging or defending the territory.  ...There may be up to 2 broods per year.  Incubation takes about 23 days and begins with the first egg laid.” Behavior “Nest attendance is shared equally by the male and female during egg-laying and post-laying periods.  Incubation however, is carried out mostly by the female.  The streaked or spotted chicks can swim almost immediately after hatching.  The young will usually travel on the parents back or will cling to their tail.  The parents may feed the chicks and even dive while chicks are on their back.  The parents will return to the nest frequently with the young.  Young grebes fledge at about 35 days.  ...[This species] rarely flies, and it escapes by diving with a short leap or by slowly submerging.  It is the most solitary of the grebes.  It is the first grebe to arrive north in the spring and the last to leave in the fall.  It migrates in closely-massed flocks. ...” Feeding “Diet consists primarily of fish including eels, carp, and catfish as well as sticklebacks, sculpins, silversides, and minnows.  [It will also] forage on crayfishes, aquatic insects, snails, spiders, frogs, tadpoles, some seeds and soft parts of aquatic plants, ...[and] on shrimp in saltwater bays and estuaries.  [It ingests] large numbers of their own feathers.  This may serve to protect the stomach from puncture by indigestible parts and prevent hard items from entering the intestines.  Feathers also provide the base material of regurgitated pellets that contain undigested material such as fish bones.” Aquatic/Terrestrial Associations: “In Virginia, pied-billed grebes have been observed foraging with snowy egrets.  Mutualistic foraging enhances opportunities for obtaining prey.  Limiting factors: The greatest losses of nests and eggs resulted from wind, rain, waves, and storm tides.  Predators of eggs and young include raccoons, laughing gulls, water snakes, snapping turtles, and peregrine falcons.” SOURCES Used for Audio Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org.The Horned Grebe entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Horned_Grebe/;the Pied-billed Grebe entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pied-billed_Grebe/;the Red-necked Grebe entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-necked_Grebe/. National Audubon Society, “Taxonomic Family: Grebes,” online at https://www.audubon.org/bird-guide?title=Grebe&family=6460. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Birds of the World,” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home.  (subscription required).The entry for the taxonomic family of grebes, Podicipedidae, is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/podici1/cur/introduction; this is the source of the quote in the audio.The Horned Grebe entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/horgre/cur/introduction;the Pied-billed Grebe entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/pibgre/cur/introduction;the Red-necked Grebe entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/rengre/cur/introduction. Indiana Audubon, “Pied-billed Grebe,” by Annie Aguirre, July 1, 2018, online at https://indianaaudubon.org/2018/07/01/pied-billed-grebe-2/. Angela Minor, “Birds of the Blue Ridge: Pied-billed Grebe,” Blue Ridge Country, December 27, 2022. 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, 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 Horned Grebe entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040005&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19612;the Pied-billed Grebe entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040008&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19612;the Red-necked Grebe entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040004&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19612. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “List of Native and Naturalized Fauna in Virginia, August 2022,” online (as a PDF) at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/virginia-native-naturalized-species.pdf. Joel C. Welty, The Life of Birds, 2nd Edition, W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, Penn., 1975. For More Information about Birds in Virginia or Elsewhere Chesapeake Bay Program, “Birds,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/critters?s=&fieldGuideType=Birds&fieldGuideHabitat. 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 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 https://xeno-canto.org/.  This site provides sounds of birds and other wildlife 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 some other episodes on diving birds. American Coot – Episode 391, 10-23-17.Cormorants – Episode 467, 4-8-19.Loons – Episode 445, 11-5-18

Lang Elliott's free "Hear Birds Again" app with his recommended headphones is "fantabulous."

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!    

Birds use song, not fences, walls, or flags, to mark off their territories, and never send anyone else off to fight their battles. (I'm using Lang Elliott's Mourning Dove recording to open and close this one because in 1998, Michigan declared the Mourning Dove its official Bird of Peace.

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

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:45).Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments ImagesExtra InformationSourcesRelated Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 2-17-23. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the weeks of February 20 and February 27, 2023.  This is a follow-up to a similar episode from February 2018. SOUND - ~6 secThat sound of a mid-February rainfall in Blacksburg, Va., opens an episode on creatures who show up, sound off, and pair up every year, starting in mid- to late winter, in temporary pools and other water bodies.  Have a listen for about 50 seconds to a series of mystery sounds, and see if you can guess what animals are making this variety of peeps, clicks, clucks, and honks.  And here's a hint: the first warm rains of each year jump-start these creatures.SOUNDS - ~52 sec If you guessed frogs and toads, you're right!  Those were the calls of the following nine frog or toad species: Little Grass Frog; Upland Chorus Frog; Southern Chorus Frog; Coastal Plains Leopard Frog; Green Treefrog; Squirrel Treefrog; Oak Toad; Pine Woods Treefrog; and Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad.  These nine are part of Virginia's 28 native species of frogs and toads.  Starting as early as January for some species—like the Little Grass Frog—frogs and toads move from overwintering habitats to temporary pools, ponds, streams, marshes, or other wet areas, where males use distinctive calls to attract females for breeding.  As spring arrives and progresses into summer, Virginia's aquatic areas attract a procession of species with different breeding and calling periods. Whether or not the weather at the moment looks or feels like spring, early frog and toad calls are sure signs of seasonal changes in the air, on the land, and in the water.Thanks to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, formerly the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week's sounds, from the 2008 CD, “The Calls of Virginia Frogs and Toads.” We close with some music for frogs and toads.  Here's about 20 seconds of the tune of “Five Green and Speckled Frogs,” a folk song used traditionally for teaching children to count, in an instrumental version recorded for Virginia Water Radio by Virginia musician Stewart Scales. 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 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 This Virginia Water Radio episode follows up a previous “Frog and Toad Medley” in Episode 408, 2-19-18; species included in that episode (in the order heard in the episode's audio) were Wood Frog, Spring Peeper, American Toad, Mountain Chorus Frog, Pickerel Frog, American Bullfrog, Carpenter Frog, Fowler's Toad, Northern Cricket Frog, Green Frog, and Gray Treefrog. The rainfall sound was recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Blacksburg on February 17, 2023. The sounds of the frogs and toads heard in this episode were excerpted 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; as of February 16, 2023, 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/. “Five Green and Speckled Frogs” is a traditional folk song long used for children learning to count, according to the All Nursery Rhymes Web site, online at http://allnurseryrhymes.com/five-little-speckled-frogs/; and the Songs for Teaching Web site, online at http://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/fivegreenandspeckledfrogs-lyrics.php(a vocal recording of the song is available there). The banjo-and-guitar version in this episode was recorded for Virginia Water Radio by Stewart Scales on March 31, 2016, used previously in Episode 310, 4-4-16.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. The sequence of calls heard in this week's audio follows generally the order in which the different species begin their annual breeding call period, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, “Virginia Frog Phenology (Calling/Breeding Periods),” online (as a PDF) at https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/education/edu-graphics/frog_and_toads/va-frog-and-toad-phenology-updated-02-21-2022.pdf. 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 Green Treefrog at Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge, located along the Mississippi River at the Illinois-Iowa border, August 2016.  Photo by Jessica Bolser, 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 the image was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/31556/rec/1 (as of 2-20-23).Coastal Plains Leopard Frog, photographed at Assateague Island National Seashore in Virginia (Accomack County), April 7, 2019.  Photo by Joe Schell, made available on iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/22151626(as of 2-20-23) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)”  Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Oak Toad (location and date not identified).  Photo by Matthew Niemiller, made available on iNaturalist, online at https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/8512(as of 2-20-23), for use under Creative Commons License “Attibution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)”; for more on that attribution category, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/.Upland Chorus Frog, photographed in Farmville, Virginia (Prince Edward County), February 16, 2023.  Photo by Ty Smith, made available on iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/148942454(as of 2-20-23) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)”  Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode.Images (as well as sounds, range maps, and other information) of other frogs and toads found in Virginia are available from the Virginia Herpetological Society, “Frogs & Toads of Virginia,” online at https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/amphibians/frogsandtoads/frogs_and_toads_of_virginia.htm. EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT THE FROGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Below are the scientific names (in italics) of the frog and toad species mentioned in this Virginia Water Radio episode.  The names are according to 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/. Coastal Plains Leopard Frog – Lithobates sphenocephalus.  (This species was formerly known as the Southern Leopard Frog).Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad – Gastrophryne carolinensis.Green Treefrog – Hyla cinerea.Little Grass Frog – Pseudacris ocularis.Oak Toad – Anaxyrus quercicus.Pine Woods Treefrog – Hyla femoralis.Southern Chorus Frog – Pseudacris nigrita.Squirrel Treefrog – Hyla squirella.Upland Chorus Frog – Pseudacris feriarum. SOURCES Used for Audio John D. Kleopfer and Chris S. Hobson, A Guide to the Frogs and Toad of Virginia, Special Publication Number 3, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (now Department of Wildlife Resources), Richmond, Va., 2011. Virginia Herpetological Society, “Frogs & Toads of Virginia,” online at https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/amphibians/frogsandtoads/frogs_and_toads_of_virginia.htm.  Herpetology is the study of amphibians and reptiles. 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/.  This site has detailed information on life history, distribution, habitat, and other aspects of species.  Information specifically for the frogs and toads mentioned in this episode is at the following links:Coastal Plains Leopard Frog;Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad;Green Treefrog;Little Grass Frog;Oak Toad;Pine Woods Treefrog;Southern Chorus Frog;Squirrel Treefrog;Upland Chorus Frog. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, “List of Native and Naturalized Fauna in Virginia, August 2022,” online (as a PDF) at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/virginia-native-naturalized-species.pdf. For More Information about Frogs, Toads, and Other Amphibians in Virginia and Elsewhere Bernard S. Martof, et al., Amphibians and Reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1980. J.C. Mitchell and K.K. Reay, Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Virginia, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries/Richmond (now Department of Wildlife Resources), 1999; available online (as a PDF) at https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/atlases/mitchell-atlas.pdf, courtesy of the Virginia Herpetological Society. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, “Animal Diversity Web,” online at https://animaldiversity.org/. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), “ARMI (Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative),” online at https://armi.usgs.gov/. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, “A Guide to the Salamanders of Virginia,” online at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/salamanders/. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, “A Guide to Virginia's Frogs & Toads,” online at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/frogs-and-toads/. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, “Virginia is for Frogs,” online at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/virginia-is-for-frogs/. 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 “Amphibians” subject category. Following are links to other episodes that feature or mention the species noted in this episode. Episode 482, 7-22-19 – on the Oak Toad (along with Southern Toad).Episode 509, 1-27-20 – on the Little Grass Frog (along with the Wood Frog).Episode 515, 3-9-20 – on the Coastal Plains Leopard Frog.Episode 516, 3-16-20 – a spring sounds, including that of the Upland Chorus Frog.Episode 620, 3-14-22 – on the chorus frog group, including the Little Grass Frog, Southern Chorus Frog, and Upland Chorus Frog (along with several others). 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

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/.

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

The time around Labor Day Weekend is what Laura thinks of as the "Anything Can Happen" time of year. (The recording at start and finish is of a Semipalmated Plover, from the Macaulay Library of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The Cedar Waxwing recording was made my Lang Elliott.)

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:58).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 8-1-22. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the weeks of August 1 and August 8, 2022.  This is a revised repeat of an episode from August 2015. SOUNDS – ~4 sec – call from Great Egret then from Great Blue Heron. In this episode, we feature two mystery sounds, and a guest voice, to explore two striking birds—striking in looks, and striking in how they hunt.  Have a listen for about 30 seconds, and see if you can guess these two long-necked, long-legged wading birds. SOUNDS AND GUEST VOICE – ~30 sec – Voice: “At once he stirs and steps into the water, wading with imperial self-possession on his three-pronged, dragonish feet.  The water could not tremble less at the passage of his stilt legs as he stalks his dinner.  His neck arches like the bending of a lithe bow, one of a piece with the snapping arrow of his beak.” If you guessed, egret or heron, you're right!  The first call was from a Great Egret and the second from a Great Blue Heron.  The guest voice was Alyson Quinn, reading part of her “Lesson from an Egret,” inspired by a September 2007 visit to the Potomac River.  The word “egret” derives from an old German word for “heron,” a fitting origin for the many similarities between these two big birds.  The Great Egret and the Great Blue Heron are the two largest of 12 North American species of herons, egrets, and bitterns.  The Great Egret is strikingly white, while the Great Blue has only a partially white head over a bluish-gray body.  But a white subspecies of the Great Blue, called the Great White Heron, occurs in Florida.  Great Egrets and Great Blues both typically feed in shallow water, taking fish, amphibians, and other prey by waiting and watching quietly, then quickly striking with their long, sharp beaks.  The two species also share a history of having been widely hunted for their long plumes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the impact on their populations helped lead to nationwide bird-conservation efforts and organizations. Distinctive looks, behavior, and history make these two “Greats” a memorable and meaningful sight along Virginia's rivers, ponds, marshes, and other areas.  Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week's sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs, and thanks to Alyson Quinn for permission to share her “Lesson from an Egret,” which gets this episode closing words. GUEST VOICE – ~18 sec – “I want to be more like the egret, with the patience to be still without exhaustion, to never mind the idle currents or be dazzled by the glamour of light on water; but, knowing the good thing I wait for, to coil my hope in constant readiness, and to act in brave certitude when it comes.” 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 This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 277, 8-10-15. The sounds of the Great Egret and the Great Blue Heron 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, whose work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. Excerpts of “Lesson from an Egret” are courtesy of Alyson Quinn, from her blog “Winterpast” (September 21, 2007, post), available online at http://www.winterispast.blogspot.com/, used with permission.  Ms. Quinn made the recording after a visit to Algonkian Regional Park, located in Sterling, Va. (Loudoun County), part of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority.  More information about the park is available online at https://www.novaparks.com/parks/algonkian-regional-park. 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 (Except as otherwise noted, photographs are by Virginia Water Radio.) Upper two images: Great Egret along the New River near Parrott, Va. (Pulaski County); photos by Robert Abraham, used with permission.  Third image: Great Blue Heron in a marsh at Wachapreague, Va. (Accomack County), October 5, 2007.  Bottom image: Great Blue Heron in a stormwater pond on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, July 28, 2015. EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT GREAT EGRETS AND GREAT BLUE HERONS The following information is excerpted from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service”: Great Egret “Life History” entry, online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040032&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19202; and Great Blue Heron “Life History” entry, online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040027&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19202. Great Egret Physical Description“Large, heavy, white heron with yellow-orange bill, black legs, long, slender neck, and long plumes extending beyond tail….” Behavior“Male selects territory that is used for hostile and sexual displays, copulation and nesting.  Adjacent feeding areas vigorously defended, both sexes defend.  …Migration occurs in fall and early spring along coast; winters further south than Virginia. …Foraging: alone in open situations; prefers fresh or brackish waters, openings in swamps, along streams or ponds; wader: stalks prey; known to participate in the 'leap-frog' feeding when initiated by cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis).  Prey are taken in shallow waters; prey usually includes insects, fish, frogs (adults and tadpoles), small birds, snakes, crayfish, and many others.  Nesting: in trees or thickets, 3-90 ft. above water in willows, holly, red cedar, cypress, and bayberry on dry ground in marshes.” Population Comments“Dangerously near extermination in early part of [20th] century due to plume hunting; population comeback hampered by loss of habitat, exposure to DDT and other toxic chemicals and metals. …[Predators include] crows and vultures….” Great Blue Heron Physical Description“Large grayish heron with yellowish bill, white on head, cinnamon on neck, and black legs,” Behavior“Territoriality: known to have feeding territory in non-breeding seasons, defended against members of same species.  Range: breeds from central Canada to northern Central America and winters from middle United States throughout Central America; in Virginia, is a permanent resident of the Coastal Plain. …Foraging: stands motionless in shallow water waiting on prey; occasionally fishes on the wing along watercourses, meadows and fields far from water.  They also take frogs, snakes, insects, and other aquatic animals.  Nesting: predominately in tall cedar and pine swamps, but may also be found on the ground, rock ledges, and sea cliffs; nests on platform of sticks, generally in colonies….” Aquatic/Terrestrial Associations“Salt or fresh shallow waters of lakes, ponds, marshes, streams, bays, oceans, tidal flats, and sandbars; feeds in surf, wet meadows, pastures, and dry fields.” SOURCES Used for Audio Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Birds of the World,” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home  (subscription required). Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson, Life in the Chesapeake Bay, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2006. Merriam-Webster  Dictionary:“Egret,” online at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/egret;“Heron,” online at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heron. National Audubon Society, “History of Audubon and Science-based Bird Conservation,” online at http://www.audubon.org/content/history-audubon-and-waterbird-conservation. Oxford Dictionaries/Oxford University Press:“Egret,” online at http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/egret;“Heron,” online at http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/heron. Chandler S. Robbins et al., A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2001. 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/:Great Blue Heron entry, online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040027&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19202;Great Egret entry, online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040032&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19202;“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.The Waterbird Society, online at https://waterbirds.org/. Joel C. Welty, The Life of Birds, W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, Penn., 1975. 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. 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.  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 some other episodes on birds in the family of herons, egrets, night-herons, and bitterns.Episode 118, 7-9-12 – Summertime sampler of birds, including Great Blue Heron. Episode 127, 9-10-12 – Green Heron. Episode 235, 10-13-14 – Black-crowned Night Heron.Episode 381, 8-14-17 – Midnight sounds near water, including Great Blue Heron.Episode 430, 7-23-18 – Marsh birds in Virginia, including Great Blue Heron and Least Bittern.Episode 478, 6-24-19 – Little Blue Heron.Episode 603, 11-15-21 – Fall bird migration, including Green Heron and Snowy Egret. 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 Processes1.5 – Animals, including humans, have basic life needs that allow them to survive. 2.5 – Living things are part of a system. 3.4 – Adaptations allow organisms to satisfy life needs and respond to the environment. 3.5 – Aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems support a diversity of organisms. 4.2 – Plants and animals have structures that distinguish them from one another and play vital roles in their ability to survive. 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.3.8 – Natural events and humans influence ecosystems.4.8 – Virginia has important natural resources.

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 (4:45).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 3-11-22. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of March 14, 2022.  This is a revised version of an episode from March 2019. SOUNDS – ~5 sec. This week, that raspy call opens an episode about several species of small frogs that share a common group name but differ in sound and distribution.  Have a listen for about 10 seconds to two species recorded simultaneously, and see if you know the name of this frog group.  And here's a hint: to get the key word, gather a lot of harmonious singers, or skip over a song's verses.  SOUNDS  - ~10 sec. If you guessed chorus frogs, you're right!  You heard the creaky call of Mountain Chorus Frogsalong with the single notes of Spring Peepers, two of seven chorus frog species in Virginia.  The other five are the Little Grass Frog and four more species with “chorus frog” in their name: Brimley's, New Jersey, Southern, and Upland chorus frogs.  As a group, they're noted for their choruses of calling males advertising for mates in breeding season.  Those calls vary among the species in pitch, tone, and how quickly sounds are repeated.  The species also differ in their distribution in Virginia: Spring Peepers occur statewide, and Upland Chorus Frogs are found in much of the state, but the other five occupy narrower ranges in the Commonwealth. The Mountain Chorus Frog, which is found from Pennsylvania to Mississippi, including southwestern Virginia, is getting special scientific attention.  Since 2019, scientists Kevin Hamed, at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, and Wally Smith, at the University of Virginia's College at Wise, have led a project to learn more about the species' distribution.  Collaborating with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), they're inviting Virginia citizens, especially K-12 students, to look and listen for this species and to submit information on any observations.  The project's Web site notes that Mountain Chorus Frog's breeding activity is mostly from February to April, but may continue into June; they'll call during the day as well as at night; and places to hear them—which is more likely than seeing them—include wet ditches, flooded fields, mountain seeps and springs, tire ruts, and furrows in plowed fields. To learn more about this project, to submit Mountain Chorus Frog observations, or to request a classroom visit by the researchers, go online to mtchorusfrog.fishwild.vt.edu, or call Kevin Hamed at (540) 231-1887. Thanks to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources and to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week's sounds, from A Guide to the Frogs and Toads of Virginia.  We close with a medley of calls from the seven chorus frogs found in Virginia, in alphabetical order.  Have a listen for about 20 seconds, and see if you can recall their names, mentioned earlier in this episode.  Good luck! SOUNDS - ~ 23 sec – Brimley's Chorus Frog, Little Grass Frog, Mountain Chorus Frog, New Jersey Chorus Frog, Southern Chorus Frog, Spring Peeper, Upland Chorus Frog. 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 This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 464, 3-18-19. The frog sounds in this episode were 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 March 14, 2022, 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/. Thanks to the following people for their help with this episode: Carola Haas, Virginia Tech Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Blacksburg; John Kleopfer, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources; Kevin Hamed, Virginia Tech Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Blacksburg;Wally Smith, University of Virginia's College at Wise. 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 Project flyer being used for the Mountain Chorus Frog monitoring initiative being conducted in 2022 by the University of Virginia's College at Wise, Virginia Tech, and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Flyer accessed at https://www.mtchorusfrog.fishwild.vt.edu, 3/11/22.A chorus frog (species not identified) in Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia. Photo made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov, accessed 3-14-22; specific URL for the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/12030/rec/1.Below are Virginia county occurrence maps for the seven chorus frog species found in Virginia, all from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/, accessed 3/15/22.SOURCES Used for Audio AmphibiaWeb, https://amphibiaweb.org/index.html. John D. Kleopfer and Chris S. Hobson, A Guide to the Frogs and Toad of Virginia, Special Publication Number 3, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries [now Department of Wildlife Resources], Richmond, Va., 2011. Bernard S. Martof, et al., Amphibians and Reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1980. J.C. Mitchell and K.K. Reay, Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles in Virginia, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries/Richmond (1999); available online (as a PDF) at https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/atlases/mitchell-atlas.pdf, courtesy of the Virginia Herpetological Society.  (Herpetology refers to the study of amphibians and reptiles.) Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, “Wildlife Information,” online at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/.  Information for the seven chorus frogs found in Virginia is at the following links:Brimley's Chorus Frog;Little Grass Frog;Mountain Chorus Frog;New Jersey Chorus Frog;Southern Chorus Frog;Spring Peeper;Upland Chorus Frog. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, “Virginia Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/.  This site has detailed information on life history, distribution, habitat, and other aspects of species.  The information specifically for the seven chorus frogs found in Virginia is at the following links:Brimley's Chorus Frog;Little Grass Frog;Mountain Chorus Frog;New Jersey Chorus Frog;Southern Chorus Frog;Spring Peeper;Upland Chorus Frog. Virginia Herpetological Society, “Frogs and Toads of Virginia,” online at https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/amphibians/frogsandtoads/frogs_and_toads_of_virginia.htm. Virginia Tech Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, “Mountain Chorus Frog,” online at https://www.mtchorusfrog.fishwild.vt.edu/.  This is the Web site for the Mountain Chorus Frog monitoring initiative being under taken by Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia's College at Wise, and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. For More Information about Frogs or Other Amphibians U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative, online at https://armi.usgs.gov/. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, “A Guide to the Salamanders of Virginia,” online at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/salamanders/. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, “A Guide to Virginia's Frogs and Toads,” online at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/frogs-and-toads/. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, “Virginia is for Frogs,” online at https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/virginia-is-for-frogs/. Sarah Wade, “UVa-Wise team hunts for amphibians in SW Va.'s high-altitude wetlands,” Bristol Herald-Courier, July 4, 2021.  This article describes research in 2021 by Wally Smith, at the University of Virginia's College at Wise, who is one of the researchers in the Mountain Chorus Frog project noted in this episode's audio. 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 “Amphibians” subject category. Following is the link to another episode on an amphibian monitoring project:Episode 357, 2-27-17 – on the Eastern Spadefoot.  Following are links to other episodes focusing on frog species in the chorus frog group:Brimley's Chorus Frog – Episode 563, 2-8-21;Little Grass Frog – Episode 509, 1-27-20;Spring Peeper– Episode 570, 3-29-21; Episode 618, 2-28-22.

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:17).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 2-4-22.TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of February 7, 2022.  This revised episode from December 2019 is part of a series this year of winter-related episodes. SOUND – ~ 5 sec. This week, we feature a feathered Virginia winter-resident mystery sound.  Have a listen to the sound for about 10 more seconds, and see if you know a relatively small, dark-colored goose species that migrates from Arctic shores to the mid-Atlantic coast for the winter.  And here's a hint: the name rhymes with migrant.SOUNDS - ~10 sec.If you guessed the Brant, you're right!  From its summer breeding grounds in northern Canada and Greenland, the Brant travels to wintering areas along the Atlantic from Massachusetts to North Carolina, including coastal Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay region.  That's the pathway for eastern sub-populations of the species; westernsub-populations migrate from Arctic parts of Canada and Alaska to the Pacific coastline.One of eight species of geese native to North America, Brant live in a variety of saltwater or estuarine habitats, feeding mostly on a number of kinds of aquatic plants.  In their winter habitats along the Atlantic Coast and around the Chesapeake, they prefer areas where they can feed on Eelgrass [Zostera marina].  Wintering Brant will eat various other aquatic plants, too, especially in response to reduced populations of Eelgrass.  According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, however, Brant are more dependent on a single food type than other geese species, and this dependence can make Brant more vulnerable than other geese to starvation in some years.  Regarding Brant winter feeding, the Cornell Lab notes that severe conditions in eastern North America during the winter of 1976 and 1977 kept Brant from traditional winter habitats for several months.  As a result, Brant that year moved inland to feed in agricultural fields, suburban lawns, and golf courses, and over 40 years later, eastern Brant still forage inland from New York to Virginia. Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week's sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs.  We close with about 40 seconds of music for Brant and other kinds of geese.  Here's “Geese Piece,” by Torrin Hallett, and graduate student at the Yale School of Music. MUSIC - ~43 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 This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 502, 12-9-19, The Brant 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, whose work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. “Geese Piece” is copyright 2016 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission.  Thanks very much to Torrin for composing the piece especially for Virginia Water Radio.  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.  This music was previously featured in Virginia Water Radio most recently in Episode 500, 11-25-19.  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 Brant in defensive position in Alaska.  Photo by Tim Bowman, 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 the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/4267/rec/1, as of 2-7-22.Brant in Cape Charles, Va. (Northampton County), January 31, 2019.  Photo by Robert Suppa, made available on iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/20014700(as of 2-7-22) 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 BRANT The scientific name of the Brant is Branta bernicla.Here are some points about Brant, excerpted from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service/Brant/Life History/Brant,” online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040046&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19030, as of 2-7-22. Physical Description “The adult neck and head are black, except for a broken white crescent on each side of the neck.  The bill is black and the eye is brown.  The chest and foreback are black, sharply defined against the breast and sides.  The back and scapulars are brown with the feathers vaguely tipped with lighter brown.  The rump is dusky brown to dusky, with the sides of the rump white.  The forebreast and sides are pale ashy-gray, and the feathers of the sides are slightly browner, and broadly tipped with white.  The breast, belly and flanks are pale grayish to light grayish-brown.  The feet are black, and the tail is black….” Nesting Habitat and Behavior “This species breeds in Arctic North America, Arctic islands, northern Canada, [and] Greenland off- shore islands, river deltas, marshy uplands, and tundra lakes.  This species is seldom far from the coast.  They use marshy ground, sandy beaches, talus slopes, coastal sedge tundra, lowland coastal tundra just above the high tide line, low islands of tundra lakes and dry inland slopes covered with vegetation, low grass-covered flats dissected by tidal streams, [and] grassy islands and grassy slopes of low mountains near the coast.  The nest site is always in the open, on offshore or lake islands, or on low lying land. …The nest cover is low, thick, grass or sedge mat vegetation.  They nest in colonies. …The nest is initially a depression formed in soggy earth.  Sedges are molded around the scrape and down is later added. …The young are led to tidal flats or pools where they consume quantities of insects as well as grass….” Winter Habitat (of Eastern Sub-populations) “Non-breeding habitat is on the Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts to North Carolina.  They are coastal but also occur in lower Chesapeake Bay, the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, Chincoteague Bay, Gargathy Bay, and Accomack County.  Most of the time the 8000 that winter in Virginia are concentrated in Back Bay, [other] bays, tidal flats with abundant pondweed growth, mudflats, …lagoons, estuaries, saltmarshes, islands, …marine habitat, and shallow expanses of saltwater.  They are most abundant on Chesapeake Bay on the barrier beach side of the bays. They may be in shallow areas of brackish water.  They are gregarious, and often form large rafts on open water while feeding and resting.  They rest on sandbars, and roost on banks or on water near the feeding grounds.” Diet “This species forages in water, mud, and fields.  It immerses the head and neck and grazes or up-ends. This species prefers to feed in bays, shallow plant filled waters on the leeward side of barrier islands, spits, and sandbars and grassy fields.  This species feeds at low tide and does not dive. …The juveniles eat insects, grass, larvae, small crustaceans, sedge, marine invertebrates, mosquito larvae, and pondweed.  Eelgrass is the primary food, and they have been recently feeding extensively on sea lettuce due to the destruction of eelgrass beds.   They may also graze on saltmarsh pastures.  Other foods include moss, lichens, algae, sea lettuce, widgeon grass, …sedge, [and other materials]. …Animal foods are taken accidentally and include fish eggs, worms, snails, amphipods, insects, crustaceans, and clams.  When saltmarshes and bays freeze over, they will graze on grass planted in yards.” SOURCES Used for Audio Chesapeake Bay Program, “Eelgrass,” online at https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/eelgrass.  Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org; the Brant entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brant/. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “Birds of the World,” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home(subscription required); the Brant entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/brant/cur/introduction.  This is the source for the information mentioned in the audio about Brant's dependence on Eelgrass.  Ducks Unlimited, online at https://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-id/geese. Encyclopedia Britannica, “Brant,” online at https://www.britannica.com/animal/brant-bird; and “Goose,” online at https://www.britannica.com/animal/goose-bird. Chandler S. Robbins et al., A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, St. Martin's Press, New York, 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 Brant entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040046&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19027. 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 EPISODESAll 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 Disasters” subject categories.Following are links to several other winter-related episodes, including episodes on some birds that reside in Virginia typically only in winter (listed separately).  Please note that some of these episodes may be redone in early 2022; in those cases, the respective links below will have information on the updated episodes. Frost – Episode 597, 10-4-21.Freezing and ice – Episode 606, 12-6-21 (especially for grades K-3).Ice on ponds and lakes – Episode 404, 1-22-18 (especially for grades 4-8).Ice on rivers – Episode 406, 2-5-18 (especially for middle school grades).Polar Plunge® for Special Olympics – Episode 356, 2-20-17.Snow physics and chemistry – Episode 407, 2-12-18 (especially for high school grades).Snow, sleet, and freezing rain – Episode 613, 1-24-22.Snow terms – Episode 612, 1-17-22.Surviving freezing – Episode 556, 12-21-20.Winter precipitation and water supplies – Episode 567, 3-8-21.Winter weather preparedness – Episode 605, 11-29-21.Water thermodynamics – Episode 610, 1-3-22. Bird-related Episodes for Winter Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count – Episode 607, 12-13-21.American Avocet – Episode 543, 9-21-20.Canvasback (duck) – Episode 604, 11-22-21.Common Goldeneye (duck) – Episode 303, 2/15/16.Green-winged Teal (duck) – Episode 398, 12-11-17.Grebes (Horned and Red-necked) – Episode 233, 9-29-14.Loons – Episode 445, 11-5-18.Fall migration – Episode 603, 11-15-21.Northern Harrier – Episode 561, 1-25-21.Snow Goose – Episode 507, 1/13/20.Tundra Swan – Episode 554, 12-7-20.Winter birds sampler from the Chesapeake Bay area – 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 recenlty 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.“Chesapeake Bay Ballad” – used most recently in Episode 604, 11-22-21, on Canvasback ducks.“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.”“Ice Dance” – used most recently in Episode 606, 12-6-21, on freezing of water.“Lizard Lied” – used in Episode 514, 3-2-20, on lizards.“New Year's Water” – used most recently in Episode 610, 1-3-22, on water thermodynamics and a New Year's Day New River wade-in.“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. 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 SOLsSOLs 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 Processes 1.5 – Animals, including humans, have basic life needs that allow them to survive. 2.4 – Plants and animals undergo a series of orderly changes as they grow and develop, including life cycles. 2.5 – Living things are part of a system. 3.4 – Adaptations allow organisms to satisfy life needs and respond to the environment. Grades K-5: Earth and Space Systems K.9 – There are patterns in nature. 1.7 – There are weather and seasonal changes. 2.7 – Weather patterns and seasonal changes affect plants, animals, and their surroundings. 4.4 – Weather conditions and climate have effects on ecosystems and can be predicted. Grades K-5: Earth Resources 3.8 – Natural events and humans influence ecosystems. 4.8 – Virginia has important natural resources. Grade 6 6.8 – Land and water have roles in watershed systems, including the Chesapeake Bay estuary. Life Science LS.7 – Adaptations support an organism's survival in an ecosystem. LS.8 – Change occurs in ecosystems, communities, populations, and organisms over time. Biology BIO.8 – Dynamic equilibria exist within populations, communities, and 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 (* indicates episode listed above in the “Related Water Radio Episodes” section). 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 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.Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.Episode 539, 8-24-20 – on basic numbers and facts about Virginia's water resources, for 4th and 6th grade.*Episode 606, 12-6-21 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.

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

"For a short person, you have long sentences." Start your holiday season with our MILDLY INAPPROPRIATE HOLIDAY SPECIAL where we discuss a film that is at best tangentially related to either the holiday season or the usual format for the show. This year, we're diving into the 1980 murder mystery spoof THE PRIVATE EYES starring comedy legends TIM CONWAY ("The Carol Burnett Show". "Dorf on Golf" and DON KNOTTS ("The Andy Griffith Show", "Three's Company", "The Ghost & Mr. Chicken") In THE PRIVATE EYES, two thoroughly inept detectives visit a creepy old British mansion in order to solve the murders of the Lord and Lady of the house only to find the killer isn't done yet. Can Winship and Tart find the killer before all the suspects end up dead too? You can expect: Secret passages Shady staff members Corny jokes Humor that really didn't age well Squeaky mammary glands Dead pigeons Gay subtext I had to hammer in Wookalar attacks Not only will I be donning my gay apparel, but I'm also reuniting my gayest guest hosts, https://www.dougshapiro.com/ (DOUG SHAPIRO) and https://www.patreon.com/screamqueenz (TRAE DEAN)! THE PRIVATE EYES was directed by LANG ELLIOTT and stars DON KNOTTS, TIM CONWAY, GRACE ZABRISKIE, TRISHA NOBLE and BERNARD FOX. ***** Visit us at https://www.ScreamQueenz.com (www.ScreamQueenz.com) ***** Leave us a message at www.ScreamQueenz.com/voicemail ***** Get access to THE FINAL REEL, "DAMN YOU, UNCLE LEWIS!" and all other Premium ScreamQueenz https://www.patreon.com/screamqueenz (PATREON) Content for as little as $5 a month. Find out more at https://www.patreon.com/screamqueenz (www.Patreon.com/screamqueenz) ***** https://www.buymeacoffee.com/screamqueenz (BUY ME A COFFEE) at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/screamqueenz (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/screamqueenz) ***** Leave a https://www.lovethatpodcast.com/screamqueenz (REVIEW) at https://www.lovethatpodcast.com/screamqueenz (www.lovethatpodcast.com/screamqueenz) ***** Get all your https://www.screamqueenz.com/merch (SCREAMQUEENZ MERCHANDISE )and browse our entire catalog of hand-curated designs at https://bit.ly/merchsq (SCREAMTEEZ). Visit www.screamqueenz.com/merch ***** Catch all the video fun on the official https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg2yOVFHmwA0hHEt5Gpd7DA?view_as=subscriber (ScreamQueenz YouTube Channel)! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg2yOVFHmwA0hHEt5Gpd7DA?view_as=subscriber (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg2yOVFHmwA0hHEt5Gpd7DA?view_as=subscriber) ***** https://www.screamqueenz.com/captivate (CAPTIVATE.FM )is the only podcast host dedicated to helping your podcast grow. Try them out for free for 7 days at https://www.screamqueenz.com/captivate (https://www.screamqueenz.com/captivate) ***** Don't settle for subpar sound. Get a free 7 day trial of https://www.screamqueenz.com/squadcast (SQUADCAST.FM - Remote Recordings For Professional Podcasters) at https://www.screamqueenz.com/squadcast (https://www.screamqueenz.com/squadcast) Mentioned in this episode: July Drive in https://screamqueenz.captivate.fm/drivein (SQ Drive In)

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:08).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 12-10-21. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of December 13, 2021.  This revised episode from December 2015 is part of a series this year of winter-related episodes. SOUNDS – 7 secThis week, the sound of Mallard ducks on a December day in Blacksburg, Va., is the call to explore the annual Christmas Bird Count, organized by the National Audubon Society.Since 1900, the Society has helped organize volunteers to hold local daylong bird counts between December 14 and January 5.  On any single day within that period, volunteer counters follow specific routes within a 15-mile diameter circle, counting every bird they see or hear.  The count provides a snapshot both of the species encountered and of the numbers of individuals within each species.  According to the Society, this effort is the “longest running community science bird project” in the United States, and it actually takes place now in over 20 countries in the Western Hemisphere.  The results of such a long-term inventory help show the status of bird populations and the impacts of changes in habitat, climate, and other environmental conditions. Of course, birds living around water and wetlands are part of the annual count; in fact, the Audubon Society's founding in the late 1800s was due largely to concerns over commercial use of plumes from egrets and other wading birds.  [Additional note, not in audio: This refers to the founding in 1896 of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the first state-level affiliate of the National Audubon Society, founded in 1905.  For more information on this history, see the Extra Information section below.] So what kinds of water-related birds might Virginia Christmas bird counters find?  Have a listen for about 20 seconds to this sample of four possible species.SOUNDS - 23 secThe Bald Eagle, Belted Kingfisher, Ring-billed Gull, and Greater Yellowlegs are among the many water-related birds that inhabit parts of Virginia during winter, including shorebirds, ducks, herons, and lots of others.  Keeping track of these and other feathered Virginia winter residents is a holiday tradition for many Commonwealth citizens with patience, binoculars, and attentive eyes and ears.Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use the eagle, kingfisher, gull, and yellowlegs sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs. Here's hoping that Virginia's Christmas bird counters find good variety and high numbers this year.  We close with a U.S. Fish and Wildfire Service recording of another Virginia water-related winter resident, the Common Loon, a species that some diligent coastalVirginia counter might spot or hear on a winter day or night. SOUNDS - ~6 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 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 This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces Episode 294, 12-14-15. The Mallard sounds were recorded by Virginia Water Radio at the Virginia Tech Duck Pond in Blacksburg on December 10, 2015. The sounds of the Bald Eagle, Belted Kingfisher, Ring-billed Gull, and Greater Yellowlegs were taken from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern RegionCD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott, whose work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. The Common Loon sounds were taken from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife National Digital Library, http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/; the specific URL for the loons recording was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/audio/id/57/rec/1, as of 12-13-21. 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 Mallards (several males, plus one female on right) on Virginia Tech Duck Pond, Blacksburg, December 10, 2015.Great Blue Heron in a stormwater pond near the Virginia Tech Inn and Alumni Center in Blacksburg, December 16, 2021.Canada Geese beside a stormwater pond near the Virginia Tech Inn and Alumni Center in Blacksburg, December 11, 2021. EXTRA INFORMATION On Bird Counts Another nationwide count is the Great Backyard Bird Count, held each February and organized by Audubon, the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, and Birds Canada.  This count calls on volunteers to watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over four days (February 18-21 in 2022), and record the species and numbers of all the birds seen or heard.  Its results also contribute to large-scale and long-term understanding of bird species distribution and health.  For more information, visit http://gbbc.birdcount.org/.On Audubon Society History and Waterbirds “Outrage over the slaughter of millions of waterbirds, particularly egrets and other waders, for the millinery trade led to the foundation, by Harriet Hemenway and Mina Hall, of the Massachusetts Audubon Society in 1896.  By 1898, state-level Audubon Societies had been established in Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire, Illinois, Maine, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Minnesota, Texas, and California. ...In 1901, state-level Audubon groups joined together in a loose national organization....  In 1905, the National Audubon Society was founded, with the protection of gulls, terns, egrets, herons, and other waterbirds high on its conservation priority list.” – National Audubon Society, “History of Audubon and Science-based Bird Conservation, online at http://www.audubon.org/content/history-audubon-and-waterbird-conservation.On Loon Calls in Winter“Generally loons are silent on the wintering grounds, but occasionally on a quiet winter night one will hear their primeval, tremulous yodel.” – Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson, Life in the Chesapeake Bay (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2006), p. 285.“All calls can be heard in migration and winter, but compared to the breeding season, they are uncommon.” – Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and American Ornithologists' Union, “Birds of North America Online/Common Loon/Sounds,” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/comloo/cur/sounds (subscription required for access to this Web site). SOURCES Used in Audio Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org. Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Birds of the World,” online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home (subscription required for this site). Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson, Life in the Chesapeake Bay, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2006. National Audubon Society, online at http://www.audubon.org/. National Audubon Society, “Christmas Bird Count,” online at http://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count. Kathy Reshetiloff, “Listen for the haunting call of loons on Bay's frigid winter waters,” Bay Journal, 12/8/14, updated 3/31/20. Chandler S. Robbins et al. A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2001. 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 Bald Eagle entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040093&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18974.The Belted Kingfisher entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040220&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18974.The Ring-billed Gull entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040170&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18974.The Greater Yellowlegs entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040130&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18974.The Common Loon entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040001&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18974. For More Information about Birds in Virginia or Elsewhere Chesapeake Bay Program, “Birds,” online athttps://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. 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 Disasters” subject categories. Following are links to several other winter-related episodes, including episodes on some birds that reside in Virginia typically only in winter (listed separately).  Please note that some of these episodes are being redone in late 2021 and early 2022; in those cases, the respective links below will have information on the updated episodes. Frost – Episode 597, 10-4-21.Freezing and ice – Episode 606, 12-6-21 (especially for grades K-3).Ice on ponds and lakes – Episode 404, 1-22-18 (especially for grades 4-8).Ice on rivers – Episode 406, 2-5-18 (especially for middle school grades).Polar Plunge®for Special Olympics – Episode 356, 2-20-17.Snow physics and chemistry – Episode 407, 2-12-18 (especially for high school grades).Snow, sleet, and freezing rain – Episode 461, 2-25-19.Snow terms – Episode 300, 1-25-16.Surviving freezing – Episode 556, 12-21-20.Winter precipitation and water supplies – Episode 567, 3-8-21.Winter weather preparedness – Episode 605, 11-29-21.Water thermodynamics – Episode 195, 1-6-14. Bird-related Episodes for Winter American Avocet – Episode 543, 9-21-20.Brant (goose) – Episode 502, 12-9-19.Canvasback (duck) – Episode 604, 11-22-21.&l