Gail:
I don't believe the problem was at the Masters. The Masters occurs the
second weekend in April, and the bird sounds are natural all over the
course, even into the late afternoon. It's a wonderful addition to the
telecast. In fact, the calls may have been inspiration to birder Ben
Crenshaw, who twice won the Masters.
The problem occurred when other telecast of tournaments later in the year
sought to achieve the same effect. Faced with a lack of natural bird
sounds, they artificially made tapes of selected bird calls and played them
as background during the coverage. The first offender truly nailed was the
PGA Tournament at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky, and MOS played a role.
The PGA occurs in August. MOS's own John Malcolm and Joy Aso noticed that
the calls included "Old Tom Peabody" and thought it unlikely to find White
Throats in the heat of the Kentucky summer. They made inquiries, and a
minor, although national flap ensued, thanks to our intrepid bird sleuths.
This was either in 1986 or 1990, the two years the PGA was played at
Valhalla.
Now the TV producers have reformed -- but not really. They appear to go out
and make same-day tapes of birds singing in the morning on the course and
replay them during the telecast. Most golf telecasts are from 3-6 PM EDT,
when bird activity is at a low. I remember the recent US Open at Shinnecock
on Long Island, won by Geoff Ogilvy when everyone else crashed and burned on
the last couple of holes. The background sounds all week consisted
primarily of flicker calls and trills. I mean, how many flickers could
possibly be on that course, which is a links course and mostly meadows and
dunes?
Gary Nelson
-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 6:04 AM
To:
Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Barn Owls Called Snowy Owls Calling LIke Great
Horned Owls
The "millions of birders" do not "vet" the sounds for these films and
videos. When I worked at Maryland Sea Grant we made a lot of videos and
also, some public service announcements. Our film-maker did a short on
preserving Chespaeake Bay wetlands. He picked out a bunch of bird calls
to be dubbed into the background and asked my opinion. He was not
happy when I vetoed the White-throated Sparrow, Pileated Woodpecker
and other forest bird calls he had selected. However he was pleased with
the Marsh Wren, Clapper Rail and Red-winged Blackbird calls that I made
him use!
I know thousands of people called CBS back when they were showing the
Masters' in Augusta and had dubbed in lots of totally inappropriate bird
background songs/calls. Now they dub Song Sparrow, Cardinal. Blue Jay
and other expected species.
I always appreciate the British shows as they invariably have a Little Owl
calling when the action is outside some huge old country house in the
evening, or Willow Warbler. Wood Pigeon or Robin heard everywhere. The
only anacronism is when you hear Collared Dove in the Sherlock Holmes
stories -- uh, they didn't get to England until the 1950s...
Gail Mackiernan
Colesville, MD
Original Message:
-----------------
From: Frank Boyle
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 18:52:09 -0500
To:
Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Barn Owls Called Snowy Owls Calling LIke
Great Horned Owls
I watched "Date Night" on DVD last Thursday, and in Central Park in
the middle of the winter they had a Common Loon calling - highly
unlikely given that they would be 1.) out to sea or in warmer
estuaries for the winter and 2.) it was that familiar North woods
spring breeding-ground wail. Plus, a Common Loon? Really? I know
that Central Park can be a birding hotspot, but if memory serves me
Common Loons don't stop there! I was wondering where these "millions
of birders" I keep hearing about are... ;)
Frank Boyle
--
"The most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of
the oppressed" - Stephen Biko
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