What's the bird I hear now in the forest that sounds like a tin penny whistle?
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give us more info and surely someone will jump in and offer some speculation.. :)

Tom

I'm appalled that people are requesting more data, rather than speculating....this could a chance for a rare bird. I've heard cardinals sound like penny whistles. Even a rose-breasted grosbeak could sound like one if the wind were wrong. Of course I'm speaking of my penny whistle playing which has little resemblence to that a good player. Mine usually sounds like a cross between a whistle and a kazoo - amazingly like a varied thrush. They're moving through our (suburban) yard in larger numbers than I've seen in the three previous springs. I wonder if many are first year birds. Their song is buzzy, not nearly as smooth as what I hear in May and June.

Penny whistles do well on the melancholy, but they rip out a fine jig or reel, too. I'd bet there were a few good penny whistle players in the early logging camps out here.

As for melacholy birds, I don't hear that in varied thrushes or mourning doves. Most bird songs evoke a memory of place for me. Mourning doves are a hot summer afternoon in the hammock in the backyard in Minnesota or Iowa. Varied thrushes are an evening hike up a steep trail along the Columbia Gorge. Both are great memories, but with all this rain, I could really use some quality hammock time.

John Fleckenstein
Olympia
John.Fleckenstein at wadnr.gov