Merlin and I

Sunday morning Merlin and I stood in the Halibut Point parking lot taking in a hyper chorus of bird sound. It was well past dawn but visibility was dimmed by mists. That might have had something to do with the remarkable volume. The birds must have had important things to say to each other about the breaking day but couldn't locate their companions well by eye. I couldn't see them either, so I consulted Merlin about whose voice was whose. Merlin's an app.

Merlin quickly identified a dozen species of birds in the gloom by their songs and calls. Little pictures and names flashed on my phone screen every time Merlin matched one of these sounds to its vast storehouse of bird vocalizations. Each bird had a unique species voice print. Merlin listened through a microphone more sensitive than my own ears and consulted its encyclopedic data base developed by the Cornell Ornithology Lab. The digital era was interpreting nature in the open air, on steroids.

Merlin picked out patterns from the cacophony. Some of the distinctions were easy enough, such as between Crows and Cardinals and Wrens. Some were more subtle, say, between Robins and Red-eyed Vireo, or Goldfinches and Cedar Waxwings. Merlin was impressively decisive in its conclusions.

When the mist turned to rain the chorus dimmed to sotto voce like an operatic warm-up continuing as a murmur. Merlin and I went for a walk around the Park to extend our perceptions in diverse habitats. Circling around the quarry and back we doubled our list to two dozen species heard, if not seen. Curiously, I recognized a Great Crested Flycatcher and a Song Sparrow before Merlin did. I wondered if Merlin was just being cautious. At my beginner's level they make unique sounds.

We encountered a Mockingbird reveling full throat in its triplets of mimicry. Merlin knew that voice immediately. Then it reported a series of improbable birds in the area: Bluebird, Greater Yellowlegs, Killdeer. I think the talented Mockingbird was pulling a fast one on Merlin. There's a human lesson on fallibility for the machine.

By myself I've never been able to get very far with learning avian songs. The birds and I don't have the same vocabulary or mode of speech. I have wondered if it would be possible to devise a set of visual flashcards for memorization drills, to write out some scheme of their pitches and patterns for systematic study and quiz myself with random glances. Now enter Merlin. Every time it gives an ID I can repeat the sound in mind and tongue to firm the familiarity, right there in the field.

Merlin is a hip pocket tour leader tied directly to the digital universe. Presumably it is named for the magician of King Arthur's Court. It conjures information from The Cloud and links to all sorts of resources. Anyone can download it without fees or bother, although donations are of course appreciated

The app world is here.