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Interview with Gerrit Vyn

A sound-recordist on the Arctic tundra!
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© Gerrit Vyn

Imagine carrying heavy battery-operated equipment - along with all your camping gear - across the tundra. That's what recordist Gerrit Vyn did on assignment for Cornell's Lab of Ornithology. His mission? To record the calls of this Yellow-billed Loon. You can learn more about the lab and about The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds - see Related Resources below.

BirdNote is grateful to all the radio stations that carry the show. And thanks, too, to recordists, photographers, donors, and especially the listeners!

  • Full Transcript
  • Credits
BirdNote®

Recording Sounds with Gerrit Vyn
Gerrit Vyn interviewed by Chris Peterson

This is BirdNote! [Call of the Yellow-billed Loon]

We’re hearing a Yellow-billed Loon calling on Alaska’s North Slope. What does it take to make a recording like this? Here’s Gerrit Vyn, who captured these sounds while on assignment for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. [Gerrit Vyn about the twelve hours under camouflage and never a peep.]

Now imagine carrying very specialized battery-operated equipment—along with all your camping gear—across the tundra. [Gerrit on trudging over the terrain and squish squish squish of footsteps on the tundra.]

But the pay-off is there if you’re lucky. [Gerrit describes the calls of the Yellow-billed Loon]

BirdNote is pleased to bring you this window on nature. We’d like to thank all the sound recordists. We’re grateful to this station for broadcasting the show. And we thank the donors who make BirdNote possible.

Most of all, thank you for listening. I’m Mary McCann.

 ###

Call of the Yellow-billed Loon provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by Gerrit Vyn.
Gerrit Vyn interviewed by Chris Peterson.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org   February 2017   Narrator: Mary McCann

ID# gvyn-01-2008-02-21-KPLU     Rev. for Feb. 2009 gvyn-01-MM-2009-02-20-

Chris Peterson
Writer
Mary McCann
Narrator
Gerrit Vyn
Photographer
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TagsAlaska Arctic photography recording arctic Loon

Related Resources

View Gerrit Vyn's photographyThe Macaulay Library of Natural SoundsYellow-billed Loon - More at AllAboutBirds

More About These Birds

Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii)

Gavia adamsii

Sights & Sounds

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Birds connect us with the joy and wonder of nature. By telling vivid, sound-rich stories about birds and the challenges they face, BirdNote inspires listeners to care about the natural world – and take steps to protect it.

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