ECOTONE is a guessing game. I share an audio clip. You name the nature sound. This space is also where my weekday skills as an audio journalist bump up against my weekend life as a naturalist.
The clue for Ecotone #02 is: Chevron in the sky

Sound is my favorite nature souvenir: Canada geese recorded October 21, 2021, in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
You probably quickly guessed that the recording was “birds.”
But what kind?
Noisy gulls at the beach? No.
A bunch of grackles? No.
A chevron of Canada geese? Yes!
Chevron is a pattern of lines in the shape of a “V.”
That was your hint to think “Canada geese,” which often fly in a V formation as they migrate. In that formation, the birds in front fly slightly higher than the one just behind, which reduces wind resistance, and helps the team conserve energy on long journeys
Chevron is also a collective noun for a group of geese.
Fun stuff
I was walking in a favorite park when I heard the ruckus. The flock was so large — and flying so low — all those plump bodies temporarily dimmed the sunlight trickling down through the tree canopy.
These birds weren’t in the classic V formation and seemed to be only 50 to 75 feet off the ground. So my guess is that instead of migrating south, that flock was just commuting from a roosting site to their feeding grounds.
Years later, that sensory experience showed up in one of my picture book stories.

Science stuff
The folks at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have great information about the habits, habitat and behavior of Canada geese on the All About Birds site. It’s a fantastic resource for just-starting-out bird watchers and includes an extensive library of recordings, where you can hear different barks, hisses and cackles.
It’s super fun to LISTEN-in as mating pairs “talk” to each other.

What nature sound should I collect next?
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