The Noisy Neighborhood
I’ve been recording audio from my deck overnight for just about 5 years, enjoying the owls living in the neighborhood and the many migrants coming and going each spring and fall. Dawn song from late March trough early June is most enjoyable and usually begins before the many cars and trucks begin their daily comings and goings which all but drowned out the intended target of the microphone.
I’m located in a small town on the north shore of Massachusetts in a fairly built-up industrial area so I guess I’m hearing exactly what should be expected each day but boy oh boy we sure do live in an exceptionally noisy world!
Sunday’s have proven to be my savoir with almost all of the truck traffic coming to a stand still. There’s still plenty of traffic on the main road in front of the house but at a much reduced level at least through 8 or so most Sundays.
Many of the workers within the industrial park arrive before 5 each morning with the equipment firing up soon after and the truck traffic drowning out all but the closet of birds to the mic.
So with all that as a lead in I thought I’d add an hours worth of recording from each day for a week starting today, Sunday, May 15, 2022. Each recording will be from 5:00am to 6:00am.
This is how the recording came off the SD card out of the Sound Devices MixPre 6 using a Audio-Technica BP4025 stereo mic.
Sunday 05/15/22 63 degrees at 5:00am with some traffic, temps rising to 63 degrees at 6:00am
A fairly quiet morning traffic-wise but loads of bird song. Song & Chipping Sparrows are claiming territories as are several American Robins. A House Wren dominates a good portion of the recording and is too close to the mic for a fair bit of the recording.
I’ve added an image of the waveform from Sunday’s recording.
Some of this morning’s birds, American Robin, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Yellow Warbler, House Wren etc..
Sunday 05-15-2022
Monday 05/16/22 58 degrees at 5:00am with loads of traffic noise, temps rising to 60 degrees at 6:00am
Song & Chipping Sparrows are claiming territories as are several American Robins. A House Wren dominates a good portion of the recording and is too close to the mic for a fair bit of the recording.
I’ve added an image of the waveform from Monday’s recording.
Some of this morning’s birds, American Robin, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Yellow Warbler, House Wren etc..
Monday 05-16-2022
Tuesday 05/17/22 60 degrees at 5:00am with loads of traffic noise, temps rising to 61 degrees at 6:00am
Song & Chipping Sparrows are claiming territories as are several American Robins. A House Wren dominates a good portion of the recording and is too close to the mic for a fair bit of the recording.
I’ve added an image of the waveform from Tuesday’s recording.
Some of this morning’s birds, American Robin, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Yellow Warbler, House Wren etc..
Tuesday 05-17-2022
Wednesday 05/18/22 53 degrees at 5:00am with loads of traffic noise, temps rising to 54 degrees at 6:00am
Chipping Sparrows, Gray Catbirds & House Wrens are claiming territories as are several American Robins. A House Wren dominates a good portion of the recording and is too close to the mic for a fair bit of the recording.
I’ve added an image of the waveform from Wednesday’s recording.
Some of this morning’s birds, American Robin, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Gray Catbird, House Wren etc..
Wednesday 05-18-2022
Thursday 05/19/22 56 degrees at 5:00am with loads of traffic noise, temps rising to 56 degrees at 6:00am
Chipping Sparrows, Gray Catbirds & House Wrens are claiming territories as are several American Robins. A House Wren dominates a portion of the recording and is too close to the mic for a short time.
I’ve added an image of the waveform from Thursday’s recording.
Some of this morning’s birds, American Robin, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Gray Catbird, House Wren, Yellow Warbler etc..
Thursday 05-19-2022
Friday 05/20/22 52 degrees at 5:00am with loads of traffic noise, temps holding at 52 degrees at 6:00am
Chipping Sparrows, Gray Catbirds & House Wrens are claiming territories as are several American Robins. A House Wren dominates a portion of the recording and is too close to the mic for a short time.
I’ve added an image of the waveform from Friday’s recording.
Some of this morning’s birds, American Robin, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Gray Catbird, House Wren, Yellow Warbler etc..
Friday 05-20-2022
Saturday 05/21/22 56 degrees at 5:00am with a fair amount of traffic noise, temps holding at 56 degrees at 6:00am
Chipping Sparrows, Gray Catbirds & House Wrens are claiming territories as are several American Robins. A House Wren dominates a portion of the recording and is too close to the mic for a short time.
I’ve added an image of the waveform from Saturday’s recording.
Some of this morning’s birds, American Robin, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Gray Catbird, House Wren, Yellow Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler etc..
Saturday 05-21-2022
Sunday 05/22/22 55 degrees at 5:00am with a fair amount of traffic noise, temps rising to 56 degrees at 6:00am
Chipping Sparrows, Gray Catbirds & House Wrens are claiming territories as are several American Robins. A House Wren dominates a portion of the recording and is too close to the mic for a short time.
I’ve added an image of the waveform from Sunday’s recording.
Some of this morning’s birds, American Robin, Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Gray Catbird, House Wren, Yellow Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler etc..
