Date: 11/4/24 5:09 pm From: Richard Guthrie <richardpguthrie...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Terra Tracking stations
Thanks for the good info.
I’m going to look into it as well.
As an aside, it sounds a little like the Babylon Room Monitor system that I set up years ago. I even had several monitors around my house so that I could tell which side of the house a particular bird was located. Except I had to do the identification part. I also had a sound activated recorder to capture songs and calls when I wasn’t around.
(Baby units outside, listening devices inside spatially located to coincide with the location of the outside unit - surround sound system).
Used devices can be picked up at thrift stores for around $5.00 or so.
Rich Guthrie
New Baltimore
The Greene County, NY
> On Nov 4, 2024, at 6:50 PM, R Stewart <2cnewbirds...> wrote:
>
> Sales of the Terra (or pickups for those who had pre-ordered) were just
> happening at the festival in Oct. I hope those of you who pre-ordered have
> gotten yours. I would definitely call the company to check. Thank you,
> Lewis, for your first hand input. I know this system is still in its
> 'infancy', but it's exciting, and a long way to go.... remember when the
> Internet started?!!
>
>> On Mon, Nov 4, 2024 at 12:50 PM Lewis Grove <zugunlew...> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Ruth and all,
>>
>> I purchased a Terra unit on release day a few weeks back and have been
>> running it in my yard in Waterbury since then. The automatic ID feature is
>> roughly equivalent to Merlin; it makes some mistakes, but it also does well
>> to alert me to potential rarer or less-conspicuous visitors to the yard
>> that I had not yet noticed. I generally work from home and have enjoyed
>> piping the audio through my speakers or headphones to listen to my yard
>> during the day. My understanding is that Terra's plan is to eventually
>> incorporate Benjamin Van Doren's automated Nighthawk algorithm too, for
>> automated nocturnal flight call ID (no more sorting through detections!).
>> The units are also built with stereo mics so they can roughly
>> identify individuals spatially; the long-term dream is to be able to
>> conduct simultaneous, robust point counts across huge geographic areas, all
>> at the push of a button.
>>
>> As noted, the units also include the ability to detect organisms carrying
>> certain kinds of transmitter tags, meaning that you can significantly
>> contribute to wildlife research by adding a backyard Terra. These generally
>> work on the Motus network (https://motus.org/); even just the pre-orders
>> for Terras are expected to have roughly doubled the size of the Motus
>> network in the US overnight! You can also buy stronger antennas which
>> expand the range of detection for tags. The Motus network has
>> revolutionized the study of migratory birds; the audio features of Terra
>> are fantastic, but I'm most excited that I can contribute to high-level,
>> globally important bird conservation datasets from my own backyard.
>>
>> One slight caveat is that Terra is an offshoot of Cellular Tracking
>> Technology (CTT), so the units only work with CTT tags (though this is an
>> awful lot of the tags out there). As noted, CTT's tags have even recently
>> been deployed on monarch butterflies (the tags are about 0.050 grams!).
>> Project Monarch is still in its infancy (
>> https://www.capemaypointsciencecenter.org/project-monarch), but eventually
>> the tags and Terras could help us unlock longtime mysteries around insect
>> and bat migrations.
>>
>> In short, if it was not clear, I can't recommend Terras enough! (As this is
>> a glowing review of a commercial product on a listserv, I will just also
>> say that I have no financial stake in the company whatsoever.)
>>
>> Good birding,
>> Lewis Grove
>> Waterbury
>>
>>> On Sat, Nov 2, 2024 at 2:36 PM R Stewart <2cnewbirds...> wrote:
>>>
>>> Do you know about this tracking technology?
>>>
>>> When attending the recent Cape May Birding Festival, we were introduced
>> to
>>> the product of a local Cape May company, the Terra (sound) tracking
>>> system. It has the ability to recognize sounds going over/near its
>>> location... birds, animals, insects... and even tagged butterflies using
>>> radio transmissions. The database of sounds is their own collection, not
>>> those at McCaulay Lib at Cornell.
>>> The AI programming has the ability to record and archive an unfamiliar
>>> sound and wait for more of the same sound and ID it later.
>>>
>>> Here's a link to the work that is going on in this company. The terra
>>> stations are being sold through NJ Audubon. At the Festival, I was told
>>> there are 3-5 'listeners' in VT. (Not me, yet). Know what's happening
>> in
>>> the skies without freezing or roasting or being attached by insects....
>> 😊
>>>
>>> https://www.terralistens.com/ >>>
>>> https://featheredgeoptics.org/terra-station/ >>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Ruth Stewart
>>> E. Dorset VT
>>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Ruth Stewart
> E. Dorset VT
