Dear Tweeters,

My?portable?cassette deck is acting up; my phonograph is busted, so I can't make bird-song tapes from records any more. I reckon it's time to tiptoe into the century instant.

I don't really want a smart phone or a tablet computer.

What I want is some sort of modern device that will let me play bird songs in the field, loudly enough for them to hear. It would also be nice to have the ability to make the occasional recording of their voice, although my little digital camera does a halfway decent job of that already.

I also would like to be able to capture sound recordings off websites such as Xenocanto, and store them on the device, for future use, if that is possible.

I am really not interested in getting a field guide--I still prefer a book. I just want the sound recordings.

The device I choose should be able to store bird songs from other countries, for overseas trips, and not be limited to ABA-area sets of recordings. How one acquires a set of overseas recordings for, say, Thailand or Kenya, is beyond me.

The device should also be reasonably small and robust. The small size of the device rules out any sort of portable CD player, as far as I know. I don't mind having external speakers--many bird guides overseas have such a setup, and it seems to work fine.

Any suggestions?

Yours truly,

Gary? Bletsch



Gary Bletsch

Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA

garybletsch at yahoo.com

"Nun," sagte ich, "wenn ich ein Taugenichts bin, so ist's gut, so will ich in die Welt gehen, und mein Glueck machen." Und eigentlich war mir das recht lieb, denn es war mir kurz vorher selber eingefallen, auf Reisen zu gehen, da ich die Goldammer, welche im Herbst und Winter immer betruebt an unserm Fenster sang: "Bauer, miet' mich, Bauer, miet' mich!" nun in der schoenen Fruehlingszeit wieder ganz stolz und lustig vom Baume rufen hoerte: "Bauer, behalt' deinen Dienst!"