In one of my earliest memories, I slowly woke up in my crib feeling warm sunshine and soft air wafting through the open window and hearing the sweet melody of a bird. Although I did not hear that song again for almost 50 years, awaking to hear the same music so many years later instantly brought back that singular moment of complete comfort. I suspect that this bird is not particularly rare; I probably did not hear it for so long because I spent much of my life moving to other counties and states, and living in closed environments. Recently, I heard it again!
I have no idea what the bird is, but I am inviting you to join in my search. I suppose I could just go to one of the excellent web sites I reference on this blog, and play all the recorded calls, but what fun is that? I also now have many birds that I just like anyway, knowing they are not “The One”.
Below is an expanding group of birds that I investigate by drawing them, capturing their calls in musical notation, and finally sharing them by placing my “Avian Note Art” on gift items in my on-line shop Watershed Wildlife Designs (watershedwildlifedesigns.com). The habitat and music of each bird is accompanied below by my drawings and links to sources and their recorded calls. These songs were adapted from The Fieldbook of Wild Birds and Their Music, written by F. Schuyler Mathews, G.P. Putman & Sons, New York, 1904; or created using SoundCloud software to analyze audio files from the Cornell Ornithology web site.
To learn how Parkinson’s Disease influenced my art and, therefore, was instumental in the development of this collection, see the “Parkinson’s Disease and My Art” post in th eMain Menu bar.
Avian Note Art 