Monday, April 29, 2013
Episode 159 (4-29-13): "Smart Buoys" in the Chesapeake Bay
This episode has been replaced by Episode 538, 8-17-20.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Episode 158 (4-22-13): "In the Cave" by Pepe Deluxé, for Virginia Cave Week
This episode has been replaced by Episode 527, 6-1-20.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Episode 157 (4-15-13): Warblers Announce Spring Bird Migration
Click to listen to episode (2:30).
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 April 15, 2013.
This week we feature another series of mystery sounds. Have a listen for about 20 seconds, and see if you can guess what’s making these three different high-pitched songs. And here’s a hint: These small creatures make big journeys, twice a year.
SOUND.If you guessed warblers, you’re right. And if you’re an experienced birder, you may have recognized the songs of a Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, and Tennessee Warbler. These species, which breed primarily in Canada or the northern United States, but winter in Central and South America, are among the birds that may pass through Virginia during spring or fall migration. Virginia’s location along the Atlantic coast and Chesapeake Bay allows Commonwealth birders to have a chance to see songbirds, waterfowl, and birds of prey that migrate along the broad, eastern North American route known as the Atlantic Flyway, one of four main routes on this continent. For example, about 100 bird species breed in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Virginia, but over 200 species have been identified there, particularly during the spring migration from April to June. If you’d like to see some of these birds on the move, the Great Dismal Swamp Birding Festival takes place this year from April 25-27. Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week’s sounds.
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.
Acknowledgments
Other sources of information on birds in Virginia are the following:
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 April 15, 2013.
This week we feature another series of mystery sounds. Have a listen for about 20 seconds, and see if you can guess what’s making these three different high-pitched songs. And here’s a hint: These small creatures make big journeys, twice a year.
SOUND.If you guessed warblers, you’re right. And if you’re an experienced birder, you may have recognized the songs of a Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, and Tennessee Warbler. These species, which breed primarily in Canada or the northern United States, but winter in Central and South America, are among the birds that may pass through Virginia during spring or fall migration. Virginia’s location along the Atlantic coast and Chesapeake Bay allows Commonwealth birders to have a chance to see songbirds, waterfowl, and birds of prey that migrate along the broad, eastern North American route known as the Atlantic Flyway, one of four main routes on this continent. For example, about 100 bird species breed in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Virginia, but over 200 species have been identified there, particularly during the spring migration from April to June. If you’d like to see some of these birds on the move, the Great Dismal Swamp Birding Festival takes place this year from April 25-27. Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week’s sounds.
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
 |
| Blackpoll Warbler. Photo from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Digital Library, http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/, accessed 4/15/13. |
Acknowledgments
The
sounds of the Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll, and Tennessee Warbler were taken
from the Stokes Field Guide to
Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian
Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang
Elliott, whose work is available online at http://www.langelliott.com/ and the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/.
The sound of the Bay-breasted Warbler
and information on bird migration was previously included in Virginia Water
Radio Episode 66 (week of 5-16-11; audio now archived).
Sources
Sources
Information on migratory flyways
in North America was taken from the “Migratory Birds” Web site of the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Services (FWS) Chesapeake Bay Field Office, at http://www.fws.gov/chesapeakebay/migbird.html;
and from the “Migratory Bird Flyways”
Web site of the FWS’ Migratory Bird Program, online at http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/Flyways.html.
Information on distribution and habitats of Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, and Tennessee Warbler was taken from A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, by Chandler S. Robbins et al. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2001); and the “Birds of North America Online” Web site from the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and American Ornithologists’ Union, online at http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna (subscription required for this Web site).
Information on birds in Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s bird checklist for the Refuge, online at http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/chekbird/r5/dismal.htm, and from the Refuge Web site at http://www.fws.gov/refuge/great_dismal_swamp/. Information on migration dates for birds in Virginia and other states is available from the “Nutty Birdwatcher” Web site at http://www.birdnature.com/timetable.html.
The 2013 Great Dismal Swamp Birding Festival will be held April 25-27. Information is available online at http://www.visitchesapeake.com/gds-birding-festival/ or from Deloras Freeman (U.S. FWS) at (757) 986-3705.
International Migratory Bird Day is held each year on the second Saturday in May; the event’s Web site is http://www.birdday.org/birdday.
For an account of one particularly water-based warbler, see "Yellow warbler's song means mellow days of spring can't be too far behind," by Mike Burke in the April 2013 issue of Bay Journal. This species, found in summer in Virginia and other Bay states, prefers habitat in willow trees and other thick vegetation around streams, ponds, and other aquatic areas.
Information on distribution and habitats of Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, and Tennessee Warbler was taken from A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, by Chandler S. Robbins et al. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2001); and the “Birds of North America Online” Web site from the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and American Ornithologists’ Union, online at http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna (subscription required for this Web site).
Information on birds in Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s bird checklist for the Refuge, online at http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/chekbird/r5/dismal.htm, and from the Refuge Web site at http://www.fws.gov/refuge/great_dismal_swamp/. Information on migration dates for birds in Virginia and other states is available from the “Nutty Birdwatcher” Web site at http://www.birdnature.com/timetable.html.
The 2013 Great Dismal Swamp Birding Festival will be held April 25-27. Information is available online at http://www.visitchesapeake.com/gds-birding-festival/ or from Deloras Freeman (U.S. FWS) at (757) 986-3705.
International Migratory Bird Day is held each year on the second Saturday in May; the event’s Web site is http://www.birdday.org/birdday.
For an account of one particularly water-based warbler, see "Yellow warbler's song means mellow days of spring can't be too far behind," by Mike Burke in the April 2013 issue of Bay Journal. This species, found in summer in Virginia and other Bay states, prefers habitat in willow trees and other thick vegetation around streams, ponds, and other aquatic areas.
Other sources of information on birds in Virginia are the following:
*Virginia Society of Ornithology at www.virginiabirds.net.
*Cornell University Lab of Ornithology’s “All About Birds” Web site at http://www.allaboutbirds.org. The site includes photos, distribution maps, recordings of calls, and ecological information on birds throughout the Western Hemisphere; a subscription is required to use the “Birds of North America Online” site.
*E-bird Web site at http://ebird.org/content/ebird/, maintained by the Cornell Lab and the Audubon Society. Here you can find locations of species observations made by contributors, and you can sign up to contribute your own observations.
*Cornell University Lab of Ornithology’s “All About Birds” Web site at http://www.allaboutbirds.org. The site includes photos, distribution maps, recordings of calls, and ecological information on birds throughout the Western Hemisphere; a subscription is required to use the “Birds of North America Online” site.
*E-bird Web site at http://ebird.org/content/ebird/, maintained by the Cornell Lab and the Audubon Society. Here you can find locations of species observations made by contributors, and you can sign up to contribute your own observations.
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.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Episode 156 (4-8-13): A Watersheds Lesson in "Mountain Stream" by Bob Gramann
Click to listen to episode (2:37).
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 April 8, 2013.
Acknowledgments “Mountain Stream” and “See Further in the Darkness” are copyright by Bob
Gramann, used with permission. Bob
Gramann’s Web site is http://www.bobgramann.com
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 April 8, 2013.
This week, we feature a tune about springtime stream
paddling that touches on many aspects of a key water resources concept: the watershed. Have a listen for about a minute.
MUSIC
You’ve been listening to an excerpt from “Mountain Stream”
by Bob Gramann of Fredericksburg, with Laura Lengnick on fiddle, from the 2001
CD “See Further in the Darkness.” A
watershed is the land area that drains into a specific body of water. In Virginia, the watersheds of most of our
major rivers start with streams flowing down mountain slopes. While water moving downhill is the most basic
part of any watershed, different watersheds have distinctive features because
of particular landscapes, geology, wildlife, vegetation, climate, and human
land uses. Stream paddlers—whether in
mountains or flat land, in spring or some other season—become part of
watersheds in action. Thanks to Bob
Gramann for permission to use this week’s music.
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
(All Web site
addresses noted were functional as of 4/8/13.)
 |
| A southwest Virginia mountain stream: Wolf Creek (a New River tributary) near Narrows, Va. (Giles County), April 17, 2008. |
Sources: An
introduction to watersheds in Virginia is available in “Divide and Confluence,”
Virginia Water Central, February
2000, online at http://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/watercentral.html;
and at the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Web site at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/stormwater_management/wsheds.shtml. Information on watersheds nationwide is
available from the U.S. EPA’s “Surf Your Watershed” Web site, at http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm,
and many other sources.
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.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Episode 155 (4-1-13): Gulls
This episode has been replaced by Episode 518, 3-30-20.
 |
| A Laughing Gull rookery (nesting colony) at Breton National Wildlife Refuge in the Gulf of Mexico offshore of Louisiana. Photograph by Donna A. Dewhurst, made available for public use at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Digital Library, http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/, accessed 4/1/13. |
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