This is bird note.

Sometimes it's just too hard to see the bird you hear.

Too many leaves, too many pine needles, or maybe you're looking into the sun.

Still, you want to know what it is.

Well, relax your eyes and let your ears take over.

Begin by listening for the qualities of the sound as well as the pattern,

as you develop this skill.

You'll learn to link certain qualities with your singer,

like knowing that a flute-like and upward spiraling sound

is characteristic of a Swanson's thrush.

Quite a contrast to the plaintively whistled notes of the black-capped chickadee

often found in the same habitat.

Maybe your bird has a raspy quality to its trill,

like this Willow fly catcher.

Or does it sing out using a sweet and slurred cadence,

like this purple finch?

Okay now, which of these two qualities,

Ratchety or Ringing,

would you say describes the sound of this marsh-ren?

If you said Ratchety, you're right.

The song of the marsh-ren has to cut its way through

the dense vegetation of a cat-tail marsh.

...