Please see below (after the transcript and show notes) for links to news and upcoming events.
TRANSCRIPT
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is
Virginia Water Radio for the week of June 25, 2012.
This week we feature another mystery sound. Have a listen
for about 15 seconds and see if you can guess what’s making the high-pitched,
chirping sounds. And here’s a hint: You won’t
find an image of this bird on the back of a U.S. quarter, but you can find it commonly along Virginia’s tidal
and coastal waters in spring and summer.
SOUND.
If you guessed an Osprey, you’re right! Sometimes mistaken for Bald Eagles, adult
Osprey differ from our national bird in having white under their wings and dark
marks on their head and tail. Like Bald
Eagles, however, an Osprey’s sharp talons, hooked beak, and keen eyesight make
it a raptor, a word whose Latin root
means “to seize.” While many raptors
capture a variety of animals, aquatic-based Osprey feed almost completely on
fish—giving rise to its nickname, Fish Hawk.
A ban on the use of the pesticide DDT in the United States greatly helped
the recovery of severely diminished populations of Osprey, eagles, and other
birds, whose eggshells were thinned by the chemical. Osprey nest along shorelines, rivers, and
marshes in the Chesapeake Bay region from spring to late summer. Thanks
to Lang Elliott of NatureSound Studio
for permission to use this week’s sound.
For other water sounds and music, and for more Virginia
water information, visit our Web site at virginiawaterradio.org,
or call us at (540) 231-5463. From the
Virginia Water Resources Research Center in Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo,
thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
SHOW NOTES
Acknowledgments: The sounds of Osprey 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 and NatureSound Studio (online at http://www.naturesound.com/corepage/core.html). Sounds of Osprey were used previously as part
of Virginia Water Radio Episode 56 (week of March 7, 2011; now archived).
Sources: A
Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, by Chandler S.
Robbins et al. (New York: St.
Martin’s Press, 2001); Life in the Chesapeake Bay, by Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006); the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology’s “Bird
Guide” Web site at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search; the Virginia Department of Game and
Inland Fisheries’ Web site at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/birds/raptors/;
and the Chesapeake Bay Program Web site
at http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fieldguide/critter/osprey. Another
good source is “Birds of North America Online” at http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna, but a subscription is needed.
Recent Virginia Water
News
For
news relevant to Virginia's water resources, please visit the Virginia Water Central News Grouper,
available online at http://vawatercentralnewsgrouper.wordpress.com/.
Water Meetings and
Other Events
For
events related to Virginia's water resources, please visit the Quick Guide to Virginia Water–related
Conferences, Workshops, and Other Events, online at http://virginiawaterevents.wordpress.com/. The site includes a list of Virginia
government policy and regulatory meetings occurring in the coming week.
