Hi folks. Just got into nocmig recording with some trepidation, but am loving it. A little advice from a real novice on getting started. This is assuming you have visited https://nocmig.com/ and have sorted out equipment and the software. This has cost me nothing, zilch, as I aready had a Sony ICD PX-370 recorder (that I had hardly found a use for).
I set my first session up in the garden, near to my feeders. I put the recorder in a jam-jar, surrounded by bubble-wrap, with a sandwich bag protecting it from the rain and all placed in a plant pot.
AMAZING! That is the best way to describe my first session. I have to state my knowledge of bird calls is extremely limited! I sat down and started to listen. Immediately I was amazed by all the stuff on the spectogram but realised a lot was wind and rain. Then came the amazing stuff. Curlew calling (I am lucky to have them nesting close to my house). Odd chirps and tics that I have saved for a later session. Jackdaw, Lapwing, Herring Gull (making a racket), then the feeders got some action. Lots of Starling, House Sparrow, then Wren, Greenfinch. Cuckoo in the background (one in the village each year). Soon began to recognise the Collared Doves by the sonogram.
I spent all day listening in awe. Looking at the distinctive Wren sonograms (I had always dismissed sonograms as too technical).
Summary, absolutely brilliant and a new understanding of the hobby. Happy to get the common stuff at the moment. Second night I put it away from the feeders, into the front garden but same set-up. Much easier to find the calls - the trouble with the first night is that it was full of birdsong, constantly, so I was saving clips galore for later.
This is just for anyone who is thinking it might be nice to have a go. I am thick as a brick and got results. Am learning new stuff all the time. Give it a go. If you already do it, let other know how easy it really is.
Nigel, Caithness.
I set my first session up in the garden, near to my feeders. I put the recorder in a jam-jar, surrounded by bubble-wrap, with a sandwich bag protecting it from the rain and all placed in a plant pot.
AMAZING! That is the best way to describe my first session. I have to state my knowledge of bird calls is extremely limited! I sat down and started to listen. Immediately I was amazed by all the stuff on the spectogram but realised a lot was wind and rain. Then came the amazing stuff. Curlew calling (I am lucky to have them nesting close to my house). Odd chirps and tics that I have saved for a later session. Jackdaw, Lapwing, Herring Gull (making a racket), then the feeders got some action. Lots of Starling, House Sparrow, then Wren, Greenfinch. Cuckoo in the background (one in the village each year). Soon began to recognise the Collared Doves by the sonogram.
I spent all day listening in awe. Looking at the distinctive Wren sonograms (I had always dismissed sonograms as too technical).
Summary, absolutely brilliant and a new understanding of the hobby. Happy to get the common stuff at the moment. Second night I put it away from the feeders, into the front garden but same set-up. Much easier to find the calls - the trouble with the first night is that it was full of birdsong, constantly, so I was saving clips galore for later.
This is just for anyone who is thinking it might be nice to have a go. I am thick as a brick and got results. Am learning new stuff all the time. Give it a go. If you already do it, let other know how easy it really is.
Nigel, Caithness.
