Winter on the Columbia

BirdNote^®

Winter on the Columbia

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.
A stiff December breeze blowing down the Columbia River delivers an exhilarating chill. [Sound of a brief gust of wind] Here we are on a stretch of river in north-central Washington. The river is held by a series of dams, creating in effect a series of massive lakes. These lakes, in winter, harbor thousands of water-birds.
[Mixed sounds of quacking dabblers and grunting coots]
As we watch from a high overlook, a Bald Eagle cries from a nearby snag. [Bald Eagle’s cry] On the river below, a large and nearly circular mass of black dots pulses with movement, a teeming assemblage of thousands or more American Coots. And the river is dotted with loons, grebes, and diving ducks like goldeneyes, as well as flocks of geese and Mallards – and more coots. An eagle’s banquet, to be sure.
Here comes the eagle! It drops from its riverside perch, flying with deep, driving strokes toward the coots. The armada of coots quickly fragments, some diving, others skittering across the water, as the eagle swoops downward, talons outstretched.
A winter scene repeated many times daily.
[Repeat eagle’s cry]    
You can find out more about the birds of winter on our website, BirdNote.org.
 

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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

Sound of ducks taking flight, the cry of the Bald Eagle, and call of the Canada Goose provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Ducks taking off recorded by A.A. Allen, Bald Eagle by J.R. Storm and Canada Goose by W.W.H. Gunn.
Ambient sounds by Kessler Productions

© 2009/2016 Tune In to Nature.org         December 2017/2019/2024  Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# columbia-01b-2019-12-24        columbia-01b