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In the Hemlocks, a Guided Tour of a Primitive, Undisturbed Forest and the Avifauna Living There
The start of Wake-Robin, chapter 2, In the Hemlocks. Author and gentleman rambler, John Burroughs, begins a guided tour in the hemlocks. Years before, townsfolk, tanners, and lumbermen attempted in vain to tame and exploit the grove. But nature proved uncooperative and the effort abandoned. By his account, the spirit and energy of the wilderness…
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The Scarlet Tanager and the Dog Days of August, and, Finally, the Silent End of the Season
Reaching the end of Chapter 1 in John Burroughs classic nature study, Wake Robin, the gentleman rambler describes the birds of July, the Scarlet Tanager, compares the Peewee’s hunting prowess and efficiency on the wing to the Chipping Sparrow, or Socialis fumbling pursuit of a month. The marvel and spectacle when the pigeon hawk, now…
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Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos, White-eyed Vireos, and a Side-by-Side Comparison of the Hermit Thrush and Wood Thrush Bird Songs
Naturalist John Burroughs quotes ‘To the Cuckoo’ by William Wordsworth. He considers in detail the White-eyed Vireo’s skilled mimicry in her mid-summer song and how it may rival the mockingbird’s own ability. Burroughs shares observations on how elevation might impact and effect the distribution of species in the Town of Highlands, New York. And concludes…
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Episode 6: Into the Hemlocks
“And what is a bird without its song? It seems to me I do not know a bird till I’ve heard its voice.” John Burroughs’s second essay, Into the Hemlocks featuring the red-eyed vireo, the winter wren and veery. Thoughts on taking specimens for study, Blackburnian warbler and the blue yellow-backed warbler, now known as the Northern Parula.…
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Episode 5: Scarlet Tanager and the End of the Season
The scarlet tanager and the birds of summer. Observations of the hawk and the end of the season. Click here to listen to Episode 1. Click here to listen to Episode 2. Click here to listen to Episode 3. Credits & Links: Click the links below for details about the bird vocalizations used in…
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Episode 3: Welcome Back Cuckoos, Warblers & Thrushes
Click here to listen to Episode 1. Click here to listen to Episode 2. Credits & Links: Click the links below for details about the bird vocalizations used in this episode from the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Yellow billed Cuckoo Bobolink Black-billed Cuckoo Wood Thrush 1 Wood Thrush 2 Field Sparrow…