John will finally reveal why you see his name showing up so often involving those “zero dark thirty” pre-dawn eBird reports. Most of them involve the exciting endeavor of the custom recording of bird sounds. Almost everyone has heard of the Merlin phone app, and many use it routinely. If you enjoy using Merlin and ever wondered how to take the next step in creating your own bird recording setup (or why anyone would do this), John will introduce some basic recording concepts, entry-level tools that are available, and factors to consider, so you, too, can learn how to embark on this addictive birding hobby.

John became a birder as a kid when he was going stir crazy during the great Buffalo, New York “Blizzard of ’77.” The first time he used a parabolic mic to listen for birds was on a 1979 Christmas Bird Count owl prowl. Over 40 years later, he had saved enough allowance money to finally purchase his own audio recording equipment. And once again faced with homebound madness during the pandemic, John returned to birding.