Prairie

22/07/2023 29 min Temporada 1 Episodio 3
Prairie

Episode Synopsis

An early May visit to Pawnee National Grasslands, featuring Colorado's official state bird (the lark bunting), prairie dogs, red-winged blackbirds, and more.





Field recordings by Jacob Job. Hear more from Jacob Job at https://www.jacobrjob.com/



Sound design by Patrick McnameeKing. Hear more from Patrick McNameeKing on his podcast, Empty Clouds (Spotify, Apple, Google)



Music by R. J. Fechter. Hear more from R. J. Fechter on https://rjfechter.bandcamp.com and https://www.twitch.tv/rjandj



Series producer: Martin Burch



Series adviser: Ann Marie Awad



Narrator: Sarah Vitak



Series illustration: Mia Rincón



Episode photographs, clockwise from top left:



Grassland sign, Pawnee National Grassland, Pawnee Pioneer Trails Scenic and Historic Byway, Colorado (George Ostertag/Alamy)



Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys) Pawnee National Grasslands, Colorado, United States. 6 July 2017. Adult Male doing display flight. Passerellidae (Rick & Nora Bowers/Alamy)



Black tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) Pawnee National Grassland, Colorado, United States. 6 July 2017. Adult Sciuridae (Rick & Nora Bowers/Alamy)



Male red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) displaying, Pawnee National Grassland, Colorado, United States of America (James Hager/Alamy)



Transcript



Welcome to Ambient Colorado. I’m Sarah Vitak.



We’re visiting the Pawnee National Grassland in Northeastern Colorado today.



It’s a cold and windy May morning on the prairie.



This is the place to hear the official state bird, the lark bunting. And that’s not all.



Nearby, red-wing blackbirds are kicking up a fuss, in a small round marshland known as a prairie pothole. And there’s the unmistakable coo of the mourning dove.



Later, we hear chirps from an iconic grassland native, but this one is a rodent, not a bird. 



Prairie dogs, a type of ground squirrel, stand upright like fluffy meerkats to watch over their underground tunnels.



We end our tour of Colorado’s prairies with birds at Reservoir Ridge … near the city of Fort Collins. Bobolinks fly all the way from South America each year to find a mate here.



Want to hear more from the state’s grasslands … and find out how Jacob captured these scenes?



Be sure to subscribe for a bonus episode with a behind-the-scenes peek at how we make this podcast.

More episodes of the podcast Ambient Colorado

Wind 22/01/2024
Enduring Elk 11/12/2023
Elk Up Close 07/10/2023
Backyard 30/08/2023
Prairie Bonus 22/07/2023
Water 22/06/2023
Spring Day 14/05/2023