Great Post by Paula

[Robert Righter]

Thank you Paula for a very important observation about bird sound

Merlin is no different than our ears. If a bird is at a distant it can sound different than being up close. This is also is true if a birds is facing away from you the same result as being far away. Also birds like the Chat are extremely variable in how in they say it., Factor in distance, wind, direction, and air density and lot of other variables, it can be tricky. The Spotted Towhee is common around the house. If I didn’t know how common they are, my yard list would be much larger than it is now

Bob Righter
Denver,CO

[Paula Hansley]

Another factor:  how clean is the microphone on your iPhone!  Someone at Front Range Birding in Boulder cleaned my phone’s microphone with a toothpick.  After that  cleaning , Merlin was a lot more accurate!  

I must admit that I didn’t even know where the microphone was on my iPhone and had never cleaned it!

Paula 

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[Chip Dawes]

Another option is an external microphone.  At the recommendation of Joseph Tuttle who led a DFO field trip to Park County in April, I purchased an external microphone for my mobile phone.  On Amazon, it was all of $15.  It clips onto my ballcap so my phone can remain in my pocket while Merlin listens.  This leaves my hands free to use binoculars and I can reach for my phone to see what Merlin has heard.  The external mic is MUCH better than the built in mic.

Does anyone else have experience they can share regarding an external mic for your phone?

Best Regards,

Chip Dawes

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