Field notes

Top to Bottom

So far this year, I’ve had more great adventures with Encounters, and they’ve taken me from the top of the world to the bottom—or vice versa, depending on your vantage point.

In January, I ventured south to record material for another series of Encounters Down Under programs. First I headed for the sultry tropics of the Northern Territory near Darwin.  It was the height of the monsoon season, and in a sprawling swamp I recorded a program about the cane toad—an oversized, invasive, highly venomous toad that’s spreading rapidly and endangering many of the unique animals in far northern Australia.  In this program, we’ll hear the sounds of an equatorial night along with the story of good intentions gone bad.

My next stop was Tasmania, an island off the far southern coast of Australia, where the cool mossy forests are reminiscent of southeastern Alaska.  A midnight encounter with the highly endangered Tasmanian devil was a rare chance to record a radio program about this fascinating marsupial, which looks and acts much like our far northern wolverine.

I also recorded a program titled, Searching for a Ghost, about the Thylacine, or Tasmanian marsupial wolf.  The last of these remarkable animals died in a zoo 80 years ago, but the search goes on for evidence that it still exists.  On an early morning in the Tasmanian wilds, we dream about this intriguing possibility.  

Finally, on a summer dawn along the southern mainland coast of Australia, I recorded a program called Australian Dawn that celebrates the marvels of this unique island continent, accompanied by exotic bird sounds and a startling close encounter with kangaroos.

Back home in Alaska, I made a spring trip to Alaska’s interior for a program about one of North America’s best known game birds—the ruffed grouse.  I was lucky enough to find a male in full mating mode, and I recorded the program at close range while he drummed his wings and displayed his exquisite plumage.  It wasn’t evident to my eyes, but the grouse must have been disappointed to attract a guy with a microphone instead of the female of his dreams.

In June, I traveled beyond the Arctic Circle to the Brooks Range—rugged and extremely wild country at the remote northern edge of Alaska.  My goal was to record a program about bird migration on the breeding ground for some of the north’s long distance travelers.  This includes yellow warblers and gray-cheeked thrushes that fly north after wintering in the Amazonian rainforests, the northern wheatear that makes a 7,000 mile trip from the savannas of Africa, and the arctic tern that arrives from Antarctica—some traveling more than 30,000 miles each year.

Also, in far northern Alaska, I recorded a program about the boreal forest—the largest intact forest in the world.  This immense ecosystem covers 11% of the total land area on earth, spanning the northern tiers from Alaska to Canada, across Northern Europe and the trackless immensity of Siberia.  It is one of the greatest areas of wild land on earth, famous for its charismatic wildlife—moose, caribou, wolf, wolverine, lynx, beaver, black bear, and grizzly bear.

The boreal forest is also the “bird factory” for the northern hemisphere—a place where billions of birds come every summer to raise their young.  About 200 species of birds migrate to the boreal forest each year—including songbirds, waterfowl, shorebirds and hawks—some traveling huge distances. Birds that people treasure for their hauntingly beautiful songs come to us thanks to the boreal forest.  This is also the homeland for many indigenous tribes and communities where people still follow traditional subsistence ways of life. Scientific research is showing that the boreal forest is key in buffering climate change because it stores more carbon than any other terrestrial ecosystem in the world.  This process, called carbon sequestration, is crucial to slowing the effects of climate change.