My beautiful cellphone--the little one with the earphones next to it Something very exciting is happening as I type this post. I'm live-blogging this seminal event in my birding life so I can share with you the thrill and the anticipation of what should make me a better birder in the field! Details, you ask? Here they are:
At this very second, I am loading bird songs from the Stokes Eastern birds CDs onto my new Sony Ericcson Walkman 580i cellphone... with the idea that... I will be able to use my phone like a BirdJam!
The third CD's tracks are almost finished copying to my phone's memory chip. I just got the phone a few weeks ago, but I didn't get the extra memory chip until last night, so you can experience right along with me the latest in my long series of hare-brained schemes!
Okay--I've just unplugged the phone from my computer. I will now attempt to access the bird songs through the Walkman player option on the phone.... I pressed the little W button, and here's the menu... Oh wait! I need to put on my little earphone things, so everyone in the cubeys around me remains unaware of this little non-work-related activity....
OH MY GOD I'm listening to the American Bittern!!!!
Okay--I need to calm down! Someone will notice that I look awake and realize I'm NOT doing my work!
Admittedly, there are some drawbacks -- Lang Elliott's voice being the big one. I don't have the BirdJam software which is supposed to remove his voice and organize the tracks and stuff like that. But OMG! I can just start playing the call with the volume on low, then increase it for the actual call! (P.S.--I love Lang Elliott.)
So here's the plan:
1. On break (10:50 a.m. Eastern time), I will take the phone outside with me and Niki (and our coffee), and I'll see just how loud I can play the calls on speaker phone.
2. After work, I'll stand near the back fence at the Marsh House and play the sora call and attempt to get a response from the real birds, who have been calling almost non-stop lately.
3. A bunch of soras will come out, pose for photos, sign a few autographs, and then go on about their sora business!
Oh I'm soooooooo excited I can barely sit still!
MOMENT OF SOBRIETY: If you've been reading this blog since the beginning, you're probably aware that I tend to come up with some VERY ambitious plans and I'm often (quite often) disappointed.
Remember the homemade spotting scope that yielded images that resembled something you'd see on a bad acid trip?
Remember the many attempts at digiscoping with my little Meade Condor scope?
Remember the homemade digiscoping adapter that broke my Nikon CP4800 camera? Let's all bow our heads in a moment of silence for said Nikon camera. Sigh.
But this time it's different! This time, it might actually all work out! I'll come back and update you after my break. Then we'll know whether this crazy little plan has any chance of succeeding.
UPDATE!-Delia 1, Cruel Fate 0! I played the song of a chipping sparrow outside on our walking trail, and who should fly up and sing in response but a chipping sparrow?? IT WORKS! Update later tonight or perhaps tomorrow on how the home birds respond. I can't believe it--it's really working!
13 comments:
Awesome! You are one determined chick. (bad pun intended)
Congrats on the birding success!
Don't forget the "mystery egg" that turned out to be made of plastic.
That was a downer, I'm sure.
:)
I'm so jealous. I should just email Jay and tell him I want a birdJam. We crawled through sand together in New Jersey! That counts for something, doesn't it?
Hey, BFKAD--I can't wait to try it tonight on the marsh birds, maybe even try to see whether I can get an owl to respond.
Susan--I have been laughing to myself every time I think about that stupid "egg"--I need to do an update, huh? Hey--I was on your blog when you were on mine! And yes, tell Jay you want a BirdJam!
It's an old cliche, but you go girl! There's nothing better in the world than optimism. You are going to be one techno-savy birder.
So we call and a Robin answers???
NCMtnWoman--Well, I may not be a tech wizard, but I'm trying! I just want to see more birds, you know?
Rabbits' Guy--Robins never shut up; I don't even think you'd need a BirdJam to make them answer!
The birdjams are great. I never thought I would get an iPod but this is really handy when I'm taking a lunch break and want to review (learn, actually) bird songs.
Have fun with it.
Very cool.
Ehunter--exactly--great for learning!
Sorghum Crow--I'm just so pumped that one of my crazy ideas actually works!
Yippiiiiiieee!!!
I don't use an adapter when I digiscope, I just hold the camera up 'near' the eyepiece. I use a Nikon Coolpix L14. It's lens protrudes when activated and will fit inside the eyecup.
when you buy a camera, take your scope and test it with the camera.
I like your blog a lot. Thanks for stopping by.
I am going to add you to my "check it Out - Favorites" blog roll.
Have a great week and
come visit again,
Troy
Delia:
This fake birdJam thing is something I've been wanting to do, but I just never got around to it. I guess that's partly because I now have an iPhone (for business reasons, really!), so the motivation to make my old Motorola phone into a fake birdJam kind of evaporated.
Still, how about this (and this is probably going to make Susan jealous): I will give you a copy of birdJam Maker if you will take notes on how to create a fake birdJam using your phone.
(We will post it in the birdJam FAQs--assuming it's not terribly painful a process!)
I have it all worked out in my head, just never did it... So e-mail me... jfdavis (AT) birdjam.com... I'll even give you a couple ideas to get you going!
Deal?
Jay from birdJam
Webtoad (Jay)--deal! I'll email ya. It's a very easy process to get the bird songs onto the phone (just like loading anything else, off your computer). I'll be curious to see how the birdJam maker software works, though! Thanks!
Post a Comment