Laura Erickson's For the Birds

Friday, January 15, 2010

Learn Wildlife Sound Recording from the Experts!!

Join Greg Budney and other experts at San Francisco State University's Sierra Nevada Field Campus in the Tahoe National Forest, California, this summer, for a fabulous week learning to record birds--and not just any birds. The station, located at 6,000 feet amid Ponderosa and Jeffrey pines, affords a wide range of recording conditions in spectacular surroundings, and the bird life includes such wondrous species as American Dipper and White-headed Woodpecker. This was my nemesis species until I took this workshop in 2001. I am not exaggerating when I say this field recording workshop was one of the best weeks of my life. I got some wonderfully useful skills, had SO much fun, and saw and heard and recorded such spectacular birds!

Greg Budney, curator of the Macaulay Library's archive of wildlife sounds, will lead a team of Lab of Ornithology experts to teach state-of-the-art techniques for recording wildlife sounds. Topics covered include:
  • Selection and application of audio recorders and microphones
  • Recording theory
  • Daily field recording with hands-on instruction
  • Recording techniques
  • Documentation for sound recordings
  • Use of software to analyze recordings

Dates: June 12-19, 2010
Fee: $945 (tuition, food & lodging)
For information call (607) 254-2153 or email ns29@cornell.edu
http://macaulaylibrary.org/inside/record/workshops/index.do

In my opinion, $945 for a week--including everything once you get there--is awfully reasonable, and you'll come away with a splendid bird list, amazing recordings, and a lot of useful skills.