Music of a Tundra Lake

BirdNote^®

Music of a Tundra Lake

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.

[Pacific Loon long calls, ML 138225, 0:07-0:12]

The melancholy courtship calls of a Pacific Loon carry across a tundra lake near Nome, Alaska.

[Pacific Loon long calls, ML 138225, 0:07-0:12]

Many waterbirds that spend their winters along the coast of the Lower 48 migrate to Arctic ponds and lakes like this one in the summer to breed. Their voices evoke the landscape of the far north.

Listen as a Red-throated Loon calls as it emerges from the lake’s reedy edge.

[Red-throated Loon calls, ML 216337511, 0:02-0:10]

The eerie moan of a Black Scoter travels across the surface.

[Black Scoter call, ML 164546, 0:16-0:18; repeat twice]

A Long-tailed Duck yodels.

[Long-tailed Duck call, ML 32797411, 0:01-0:07]

Red-necked Grebes bray raucously in a courtship display. 

[Red-necked Grebe call, ML 97595511, 0:08-0:13]

Finally, from the surrounding tundra, a pair of Sandhill Cranes duet.

[Sandhill Crane call, ML203906291, 0:20-0:28]

Arctic summer days are long, and the birds’ courtship calls go on for weeks. It’s an annual symphony unlike any other.

[Pacific Loon long calls, ML 138225, 0:07-0:12]

For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.

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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Pacific Loon ML 138225 recorded by G. Vyn, Red-throated Loon ML 216337511 recorded by S. Douglas, Black Scoter ML 164546 recorded by T. Johnson, Long-tailed Duck ML 32797411 recorded by A. Spencer, Red-necked Grebe ML 97595511 recorded by J. Patterson, and Sandhill Crane ML 203906291 Recorded by J. del Hoyo.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote      July2022      Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# tundra-01-2022-07-01        tundra-01