Who Cooks for Poor Sam Peabody - Audio CD
Who Cooks for Poor Sam Peabody - Bird Song Ear Training Guide by John Feith 2003 – Independent Records – The Writers Collective. ISBN 1932133097 – Narrated by Angela Richardson. 189 Species of Bird Songs and calls from the Northeast and Mid-west USA. 60 minutes. Profits from the sale to Nature conservancy and Wisconsin Society for Ornithology.
When John e-mailed me to tell me about this recording my first thought was, What an excellent idea! Having now had a chance to hear it I am as impressed as I thought I would be and led to wonder whether this sort of ear training is long established in the US. I wonder, as I cannot see why it hasn`t leapt across the Atlantic to help out the tin-eared birders [namely me] of Europe.
Quite simply the 60 minute long CD has 189 species represented by their calls and songs. After (and occasionally during) these calls we are told an equivalent set of words to help us remember what is what, whether it be cheeseburger for the Black-capped Chickadee, or sweet, sweet little more sweet sweet of the yellow warbler. These phrases to memorise birdcalls seem endless and inventive and even made me remember the yellow warbler calls from my recent trip to Canada. Angela`s narration is spot on too – turning the English phrases into part imitations of the call that would, I am sure, after a few sessions begin to stick.
I so wish there was a similar CD for Britain`s birds – I`d be first in the checkout queue if there were. Someone out there needs to tell me if we could do as well as all I can recall by way of English phrase aide memoir is a little bit of bread and no cheeeeese for the yellowhammer. If there are such common phrases then it is high time someone imitated this excellent idea and put it on a CD for me.
As for the CD under review it
is excellent and the recordings good and clear. One small quibble is I am not always clear whether the bird mentioned comes after or
before the narrator`s commentary – sometimes two are wrapped around the one and this is a bit confusing. Nevertheless, for new North
American birders and visitors this is an excellent buy and a great way to contribute to conservation as all profits go to good
birding causes.
Fatbirder
Created: 4th Dec 2002
