Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored!" I'm just off the surreal adventure of driving back to New Jersey from Anneland. The first 40 miles are country roads with epic vistas and no cars in either direction. The last 40 miles are frenetic, bumper-to-bumper freeways leading into the center of Philadelphia. Whoosh! Like entering another dimension.
When I visit Anneland (I will have photos in a future installment), I frequent the local eateries. One of the things I like to do, sitting alone over a steamy plate of sausage gravy and biscuits, is evesdrop on the conversations around me. I don't do this out of nosiness, but rather because the peoples' country accents are such music to my ears. I lost my rural accent long ago, but I love hearing it coming from other folks.
But here's something I bet you didn't know. Wild birds have regional accents too! Can you believe it? It's true. After hearing it with my own ears, I asked Dr. Google. Yep, so true.
The spoiled and pampered blue jays in my New Jersey wildlife refuge -- the ones that get fresh peanuts in the shell every morning -- make a soft peep peep. The blue jays out on Anneland, scrawny and peanut-deprived, have a hoarser pip pip and a throatier caw. The cardinals in NJ say TWEET pow pow pow. The same call near Anneland is GECK o.
One bird that has the good sense to boycott suburban New Jersey is the eastern towhee. For my money, this is a great bird. It really brings back my happiest youthful days to hear the towhees calling one another as evening falls. They say Drink your TEA.
I guess if they lived in New Jersey they would say Wanna BEER?
I had lots of fun adventures. More soon!
4 comments:
Hahahahaha, drink your tea vs wanna beer? Fascinating how the birdsong differs from urban to rural. Looking forward to seeing your photos of Anneland.
What a great discovery! I believe the Cornell lab has a myriad of bird call recordings, but I don't know if they are accessible to the general public.
I love that Anneland is only 80 miles away from your urban wildlife refuge. Even though it feels like a completely different world...
our mockingbirds say caw y'all.
The wood thrushes that visit the forest next to our home are my favorite, but the blue jay 'rusty hinge' sound is the next easiest for me to identify. It's fascinating that they have accents; another example of how animals are far more socially engaged than most people (even many birders, I suspect) think.
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