Click to listen to episode (5:20) Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Image Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 5-8-20. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of May 11, 2020. MUSIC – ~8 sec – instrumental This week, that opening of “All Creatures Were Meant to Be Free,” by Bob Gramann of Fredericksburg, Va., sets the stage for an episode filled with mystery sounds of creatures related to water and found in Virginia.  This episode is designed especially for Virginia K-12 students whose science curriculum includes learning about the Commonwealth’s living creatures, also called organisms.  I’ll play a few seconds of sounds of 12 animals, ranging from tiny to tremendously large.  After each one, I’ll tell what the animal is and a little bit about its occurrence or habitat in Virginia. I hope you know ‘em all!  Here goes. One.  SOUND - ~ 4 sec.  Several species of mosquitoes are common in Virginia and breed in a variety of still-water habitats. Two.  SOUND - ~4 sec.  Deer flies, which annoy and bite during their flying adult stage, inhabit wetlands, ponds, marshes, or streams in their immature stages. Three.  SOUND - ~5 sec.  The Atlantic Croaker, one of many fish species known to make sounds, occurs along Virginia’s coastline and in the Chesapeake Bay in warm weather. Four.  SOUND - ~ 4 sec.  Gray Tree Frogs are a common and sometimes loud amphibian found throughout Virginia. Five.  SOUND - ~ 5 sec.  American Toad breeding in Virginia starts between March and April in temporary pools or ponds, where males advertise to females with long trills. Six.  SOUND - ~7 sec.  The American Bullfrog is Virginia’s largest frog, found all over the Commonwealth in ponds, lakes, and still-water sections of streams. Seven.  SOUND - ~3 sec.  Belted Kingfishers are fish-catching birds found around streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and estuaries. Eight.  SOUND - ~6 sec.  The Laughing Gull is one of 16 gull species whose occurrence has been documented in Virginia, out of 20 gull species known in North America. Nine.  SOUND - ~4 sec.  The Red-winged Blackbird is often seen, and distinctively heard, around ponds, marshes, streams, and other wet areas. Ten.  SOUND - ~6 sec.  Populations of the Bald Eagle have recovered dramatically in recent decades and our national symbol can now often be spotted along Virginia’s rivers. Eleven.  SOUND - ~3 sec.  American Beavers, now found across Virginia after reintroduction starting in the 1930s, smack their paddle-like tail on the water as a defensive behavior to protect a colony’s territory. And twelve.  SOUND - ~8 sec.  The Humpback Whale, which can be seen during migrations along Virginia’s coastline in winter, uses it song for breeding or other communication. Thanks to Freesound.org for the mosquito sound; to Rodney Rountree for the Atlantic Croaker sound; to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and to Lang Elliott for the bullfrog sound; to Lang Elliott again for the Laughing Gull and Bald Eagle sounds; and to the National Park Service for the whale sound.  Thanks also to Bob Gramann for permission to use his music. And thanks finally to all Virginia students for their efforts to keep learning through an unusually challenging spring 2020. SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open

Click to listen to episode (4:59) Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Images Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 4-24-20. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of April 27, 2020. SOUND – ~8 sec This week, the sounds of an electricity transmission line and the James River serve to remind us that energy use, including electricity generation, is closely linked with water resources.  As stated by the U.S. Geological Survey, “Energy is required to withdraw, transport, and treat water for human consumption, [and] water is required to extract and process fossil fuels…; .grow biofuels…; and…cool thermoelectric power plants….”  In Virginia, thermoelectric power generation is by far the largest single use of surface water withdrawals. [Ed. note not in audio, added 4/27/20: Moreover, the global water cycle is predicted to be affected by climate changes attributed to fossil fuel use for energy.] Recently some far-reaching decisions were made affecting Virginia’s energy, water and other natural resources, and economy.  Have a listen for about 15 seconds to some sounds connected to those decisions. SOUND and VOICES – ~12 sec – “The House will come to order. Members please take their seats…The Senate will come to order. The senators will please take their seats.” The 2020 Virginia General Assembly passed [and the governor approved] two major acts affecting electricity generation, carbon emissions from that generation, and responses to recurrent or repetitive flooding.  The more complex of the two is the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which was House Bill 1526 and identical Senate Bill 851.  With a summary running to over 1200 words, this act is big, detailed, and historic.  Here are six major things the act does. 1. Changes from voluntary to mandatory the renewable-energy portfolio standard for Dominion Energy Virginia and American Electric Power, or AEP, requiring those companies to produce 100-percent carbon-emission-free electricity by 2045 and 2050, respectively. 2. Sets an energy-efficiency standard and requires Dominion and AEP to make annual improvements toward that standard. 3. Removes the state’s declaration that new nuclear power facilities are considered in the public interest, and increases significantly the electricity-production capacity from wind and solar considered in the public interest. 4. Increases the allowances on electricity generation by utility customers. 5. Establishes the Percentage of Income Payment Program to cap monthly utility payments by low-income customers. And 6. Establishes that state agencies must consider how energy facilities and programs affect low-income geographic areas and historically economically disadvantaged communities located near energy facilities. The second major law is the Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act, which was House Bill 981 and identical Senate Bill 1207.  This act has two major components.  First, it establishes a carbon dioxide cap-and-trade program, intended to reduce carbon emissions from electricity-generating plants, in compliance with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which currently includes 10 mid-Atlantic and New England states.  Second, it changes the current Shoreline Resiliency Fund to the Community Flood Preparedness Fund, as a low-interest loan program for inland and coastal communities that experience recurrent flooding, with the program to be funded by the sale of emission allowances from the carbon cap-and-trade program. These acts passed by relatively close margins, they’ll be complicated to implement, and they’ll probably continue to generate considerable debate.  You can find more details about these acts aand all General Assembly legislation at the Legislat

Click to listen to episode (4:04) Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Images Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 5-1-20. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of May 4, 2020. MUSIC – ~ 9 sec - instrumental This week, we feature original music about some semi-aquatic, multi-legged creatures, whose land-dwelling relatives are well-known in nature, human habitats, and human stories and legends.  Have a listen to about 30 more seconds of the music, and see if you know these creatures.  And if you’re fishing for a clue, count to eight. MUSIC - ~ 27 sec - instrumental If you guessed fishing spiders, you’re right!  You’ve been listening to “Spider Strike,” by Torrin Hallett, a graduate student at Manhattan School of Music in New York.  Over 40,000 species of spiders occur worldwide, and both real and imagined versions of these eight-legged creatures are a familiar part of human life from corner cobwebs to comic book heroes to various cultural myths. Fishing spiders are probably less familiar to most people, although these spiders are large and they’ll sometimes wander into houses.  Fishing spiders get their name from their habit of capturing aquatic prey that sometimes includes fish.  More typically, however, these spiders feed on insects.  They can swim, dive, and walk across water to reach their prey. Living along the margins of streams, ponds, or other water bodies, they’re known to anchor themselves to an object near the water, place their front legs on the water surface, and wait to ambush insects whose movements the spiders can detect through surface ripples sensed by the spider’s legs.  In this way, the water surface serves the function that a web provides for many terrestrial spiders.  While fishing spiders don’t make webs to capture prey, they do produce silk to make structures for protecting their eggs; accordingly, they’re classified in the family known as nursery-web spiders. At [up to] about three inches long, fishing spiders are some of the largest spiders in Virginia.  They aren’t venomous to humans, but they may bite.  Look for them—carefully—along water bodies in vegetation, under rocks, or on trees. Thanks to Torrin Hallett for composing this week’s music especially for Virginia Water Radio, and we close with the last few seconds of “Spider Strike.” MUSIC - ~10 sec – instrumental SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “Spider Strike” is copyright 2020 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission. Torrin is a 2018 graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio; as of 2020, he is a graduate student in Horn Performance at Manhattan School of Music in New York.  More information about Torrin is available online at https://www.facebook.com/torrin.hallett.  Thanks very much to Torrin for composing the piece especially for Virginia Water Radio. To hear the complete piece (47 seconds), please click here. Thanks to Eric Day, Virginia Tech Department of Entomology, for his help with this episode. IMAGES Dark Fishing Spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus), photographed at the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, Va., June 15, 2019.  Photo by lhjenkins, made available on iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2

Click to listen to episode (4:29) Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Images Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 4-17-20.  TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of April 20, 2020. SOUND – ~4 sec That’s a recent, mid-afternoon sound of a carpenter bee gathering nectar from a patch of spring wildflowers and, at the same time, possibly helping to pollinate the plants.  While the coronavirus pandemic may have you staying mostly indoors this spring, outdoors the processes of emergence, growth, and reproduction are happening for many plants, including the species that was being visited by the bee you just heard.  Have a listen to that bee for about 15 more seconds, and see if you can guess this species of riverside-inhabiting, spring-blooming plant, whose name includes a familiar state, a primary color, and a ringing device. SOUNDS - ~14 sec If you guessed Virginia Bluebells, you’re right!  This plant is known for the striking blue color of its flowers, which actually start out pink and change color as the plant develops.  Virginia Bluebells are found over much of the eastern United States, including in Virginia’s mountains and Piedmont regions.  Their preferred native habitat is forested floodplains along rivers and streams.  In those places, the plants have rich, moist soils; water flow that can spread the plant’s seeds; and, as is adapted to by many spring wildflowers, a tree canopy that allows enough light in springtime for the plant to emerge and reproduce before the summer’s heavy shade develops.  Along some streams, such as the Potomac River tributaries Bull Run and Cedar Run in Prince William County, Virginia Bluebells have established such prolific and attractive populations that visitors flock to see the spring blooms. Virginia Bluebells is a lovely, descriptive name, but this species have several other names, too, including Virginia Cowslip, Roanoke Bells, Gentleman’s Breeches, Lungwort, and Oysterleaf.  By any name, this plant occupies a significant place along waterways and in plant-lovers’ opinions.  As stated by Nancy Hugo in her account of Virginia Bluebells as the Virginia Native Plant Society’s 1989 Wildflower of the Year, quote, “Few blues in nature rival the blue of Virginia bluebells, and a single clump in a garden or a stand of thousands along a stream is a beautiful sight.” We close with some music appropriate for Virginia Bluebells and other spring wildflowers.  Here’s about 25 seconds of “Flowers of the Forest,” by the longtime Blacksburg- and Roanoke, Va.-based band, No Strings Attached. MUSIC - ~ 23 sec – instrumental SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The scientific name of Virginia Bluebells is Mertensia virginica. The large carpenter bee (a species in the genus Xylocopa) was recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Blacksburg, Va., April 16, 2020.  Thanks to Eric Day, Virginia Tech Department of Entomology, for his help in identification of this insect. “Flowers of the Forest,” from the 2003 album “Old Friend’s Waltz,” is copyright by No Strings Attached and Enessay Music, used with permission.  More information about No Strings Attached is available from their Web site, http://enessay.com/.  This musi

Click to listen to episode (4:12) Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Images Extra Information Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 4-10-20. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of April 13, 2020. MUSIC – ~14 sec – instrumental. This week, that excerpt of “The Waterthrush,” by Andrew VanNorstrand, opens an episode about the two water-related songbirds in Virginia and North America called waterthrushes: the Louisiana Waterthrush and the Northern Waterthrush.  Here’s a short medley of the songs of these two birds, from recordings by Lang Elliott in the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs.  You’ll hear the medley twice, for about 15 seconds altogether; in each pairing, the Louisiana song comes first, followed by the Northern song. SOUNDS - ~14 sec. In Virginia, the Louisiana Waterthrush is a common summer resident statewide, while the Northern can be found in Virginia’s higher elevations in the summer; both may occur across the Commonwealth during spring and fall migration. Despite the “thrush” in their name, waterthrushes are not part of the bird family of thrushes and allies—the family that includes, for example, the Wood Thrush, Robin, and Eastern Bluebird—although waterthrushes do resemble some thrushes because of their streaked or spotted breast.  Rather, waterthrushes are classified in the family of New World Warblers, also called Wood Warblers. In contrast, the “water” part of the waterthrush name fits the habitat of each species.  The Louisiana is found near woodland streams, while the Northern prefers areas of standing water such as bogs, swamps, and other wetlands.  Both feed on a variety of aquatic insects and other invertebrates as well as small fish and amphibians. As is true with many warblers, waterthrushes may be heard more often than seen, and their songs have evoked appreciative human comments.  Here’s how the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “All About Birds” Web site describes the songs and habitats of these birds: “The Northern Waterthrush is often an unseen singer whose rich, sweet whistles lure listeners into its attractive habitats, the wooded swamps and bogs of northern North America”; and “The ringing song of the Louisiana Waterthrush, in cadence so like the rushing streams that are its home, is one of the first signs of spring in eastern North America.” Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use the waterthrush sounds.  Thanks also to Andrew VanNorstrand for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with about 15 more seconds of “The Waterthrush.” MUSIC – ~15 sec. SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The waterthrush sounds were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot’s work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. “The Waterthrush” (part of the medley “The Waterthrush/Origami Reel”), from the 2019 album “That We Could Find a Way to Be,” is copyright by Andrew VanNorstrand, used with permission.  More information about Andrew VanNorstrand is available online at https://www.andrewvannorstrand.com/. Click h

Click to listen to episode (5:02) Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Images Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 3-20-20. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of March 23, 2020. This week, we feature music inspired by the microbe-caused events shaking the globe.  Have a listen for about 40 seconds. MUSIC – ~ 43 sec – instrumental. You’ve been listening to “Corona Cue,” by Torrin Hallett, a student at Manhattan School of Music in New York.  The whole world is responding to unprecedented cues from the coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, which is causing the respiratory disease called COVID-19.  As is well-known now from instructions to maintain social distance, the COVID-19 virus is transmitted primarily through the air on droplets from an infected person’s respiratory system.  From a water-resources perspective, there’s no evidence currently that this virus is water-borne.  According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (or CDC), document titled “Water Transmission and COVID-19,” last updated on March 10, quote “The COVID-19 virus has not been detected in drinking water. Conventional water treatment methods that use filtration and disinfection, such as those in most municipal drinking water systems, should remove or inactivate the virus that causes COVID-19.  The risk of transmission of COVID-19 from the feces of an infected person is…unknown; however, the risk is expected to be low based on data from previous outbreaks of related coronaviruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (or SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (or MERS),” unquote. Besides being considered as not water-borne, perhaps COVID-19’s most important connection to water in the current emergency is that washing one’s hands with soap and water acts to impair the virus’s particles and remove them from the skin. Virginia Water Radio will continue to look into any water connections to the coronavirus pandemic and possibly have additional episodes on the topic.  As the CDC states in its online COVID-19 “Frequently Asked Questions,” “There is much more to learn about the transmissibility, severity, and other features associated with COVID-19 and investigations are ongoing.” Thanks to Torrin Hallett for creating “Corona Cue” for Virginia Water Radio.  We close with some more music, not inspired by COVID-19 but with a message fitting the big, common challenge facing people everywhere; here’s about 40 seconds of “On a Ship,” by Blacksburg, Va., singer-songwriter Kat Mills. MUSIC – ~ 39 sec – Lyrics: “We are on a ship, a great big ship. It takes all of us, to take care of it. And we can use the stars to navigate our trip; we are riding on a ship.” SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;} Note added 4/6/20: A second episode on water connections of the COVID-19 v

Click to listen to episode (4:51) Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Image Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 4-3-20. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of April 6, 2020. MUSIC – ~9 sec – Lyrics: “Oh we got a race that must be run, oh we got a race that must be run.” That’s part of “The Race,” by the Harrisonburg, Va.-based band, The Steel Wheels, from their 2013 album, “No More Rain.”  It’s music used here before in episodes about difficult, endurance-requiring human challenges.  In the first week of April 2020, humans around the world are deep into an historic, marathon race to outlast and overcome the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19.  This episode—following up a first coronavirus episode two weeks ago—presents brief notes about five more water-related aspects of the pandemic. One – Currently, COVID-19 virus transmission is believed to be primarily through respiratory droplets, made up of water, mucus, and other substances.  But an important, unanswered question is, to what degree can it be transmitted as smaller, drier particles called aerosols, also called droplet nuclei.  Aerosols can stay in the air longer and be transmitted farther than droplets; this occurs, for example, with the measles virus.  As scientists learn more about the transmission mechanisms for the COVID-19 virus, this can affect recommendations about social distancing and mask-wearing. Two - Soap and water are effective in preventing transmission of the COVID-19 virus because soap—given adequate time and lathering—can degrade the virus particle’s outer envelope.  Soap can also surround virus particles, helping to dislodge them from surfaces and allow water to rinse them away. Three - Adequate, clean water is obviously necessary for proper hand-washing.  The pandemic has underlined the problem of access to adequate water in various places in the United States and around the world, where an estimated 3 billion people lack basic handwashing facilities at home, according to a 2019 report by UNICEF and the World Health Organization. Four - Water supply and wastewater facility staff are among the many groups of workers considered essential personnel during the pandemic. And five – The U.S. Navy has been part of the pandemic story in at least two ways: first, through the missions of its hospital ships Comfort out of Norfolk and Mercy out of San Diego, deployed to New York and Los Angeles, respectively; and, second, through the widely reported stop of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt in Guam in late March to take hundreds of crew members ashore for virus quarantine and testing. The world is continuing to investigate and learn more about this coronavirus.  So Virginia Water Radio will continue to watch for water-related aspects of the pandemic and possibly have more virus-related episodes. Thanks to The Steel Wheels for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with about 40 more seconds of “The Race.” MUSIC - ~40 sec – Lyrics: “Oh oh I’ve got a hope that never fails me, and I’ve got a song that I’m gonna sing. Tempest turns and the winds are wailing. Oh we got a race that must be run, oh we got a race that must be run; oh we got a race that must be run, oh we got a race that must…be…run.” SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you

Click to listen to episode (3:40) Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Images Extra Information Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 3-27-20.  TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of March 30, 2020. This is a revised version of an episode from April 2013. SOUND - ~3 sec This week, we feature a feathered mystery sound, chosen just for the upcoming April Fools’ Day.  Have a listen for about 10 seconds to sounds resembling those that often follow a funny Fool’s Day trick, and see if you know the group of shorebirds to which this species belongs.  And here’s a hint: you might hear sounds like these on April Fools’ Day if you’re gull-ible. SOUND - ~7 sec If you guessed gulls, you’re right.  You heard the sounds of a Laughing Gull, in a recording by Lang Elliott, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs. The Laughing Gull is one of 16 gull species whose occurrence has been documented in Virginia, out of 20 gull species known in North America.  Twelve of those species—with interesting names like Bonaparte’s, Franklin’s, Iceland, and Ivory gulls—are relatively rare visitors to the Commonwealth.  Four species—the Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Laughing Gull, and Ring-billed Gull—are fairly common around Virginia’s coastal waters, with Herring, Laughing, and Ring-billed gulls found at times farther inland around freshwaters or sources of food.  Besides their distinctive sounds, which can vary considerably, gulls generally are known for gathering in groups for nesting and feeding, for their hovering ability, and for scavenging food around fishing boats, plowed fields, parking lots, and landfills. About the Laughing Gull, 19th-century naturalist John James Audubon [who also called this bird the Black-headed Gull] reported an amusing feeding anecdote, excerpted here as follows: “On the 10th of May, 1832, it was my good fortune to be snugly on board the ... revenue cutter Marion.  The Gulls that laughed whilst our anchors were swiftly descending...were all busily engaged on wing, hovering here and there around the Brown Pelicans, intent on watching their plunges into the water…. As…the Pelican went down headlong, so gracefully followed the…Gull, which, on the brown bird's emerging, alighted nimbly on its very head, and with a gentle stoop instantly snatched from the mouth of its purveyor the glittering fry…!” Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week’s sounds, and we let a Laughing Gull have the last call. SOUNDS - ~3 sec SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.   For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Virginia Water Radio episode replaces Episode 155, 4-1-13. The Laughing Gull sounds were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot’s work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at htt

Click to listen to episode (4:19) Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Images Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 3-13-20. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of March 16, 2020. MUSIC – ~ 10 sec – instrumental. This week, that excerpt of “Late Winter,” by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand, opens an episode focused what follows late winter, and that’s, of course, spring.  In the Northern Hemisphere in 2020, winter departs as the spring equinox occurs on March 19 at 11:49 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.  To mark spring’s arrival, we offer a second edition of an episode first done in March 2014, featuring a spring serenade of mystery sounds.  Have a listen for about 30 seconds, and see if you know these sounds occurring now, or soon, in Virginia.  And here are some hints: atmospheric thumping, puddle jumping, nest feathering, and mammals flying. SOUNDS - ~29 sec If you guessed stormy weather, frogs, birds, and bats, you’re right!  After the sounds of a spring thunderstorm, you heard two frog breeding calls, from the Upland Chorus Frog and the Southern Toad; then, bird calls from the Bank Swallow and Spotted Sandpiper; and finally, vocalizations by bats. Frogs, birds, and bats are among the thousands of species of animals and plants, found either seasonally or year-round in Virginia, responding to spring’s increasing daylight, temperature, and availability of water and food to increase their activity, particularly their reproductive activity.  Active animals and weather patterns combine to make a rich spring soundscape, the start of a long series of warm-season events and sounds.  Here’s hoping that your spring and summer include opportunities to hear the natural world at work on Virginia’s waters and lands. Thanks for this week’s frog sounds to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and to Lang Elliott’s NatureSound Studio, from the 2008 CD, “The Calls of Virginia Frogs and Toads”; and thanks to Lang Elliott, again, for the bird sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs.  Thanks also to Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand for permission to use “Late Winter,” from the 2004 album, “Driftage.”  We close with about 10 seconds of another Andrew and Noah tune, “Corbin Hill,” whose name has nothing specific to do with spring, but whose rapid tempo fits spring’s accelerating outdoors pace. MUSIC - ~ 13 sec –instrumental. SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A previous “spring serenade” episode was Episode 206, 3-24-14. “Late Winter/Corbin Hill,” from the 2004 album “Driftage,” is copyright by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand and Great Bear Records, used with permission.  More information about Andrew and Noah and their bands is available online at https://www.andrewandnoah.com/andrewandnoah/dev/music/. The thunderstorm sounds were recorded by Virginia Water Radio on April 20, 2015, in Blacksburg, Va. The Upland Chorus Frog and Southern Toad sounds were from “The Calls of Virginia Frogs and Toads” CD, copyright 2008 by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) and Lang Elliott/NatureSound Studio, used with permission.  For more information on this CD, contact VDGIF online at https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/; by mail to

Click to listen to episode (3:50) Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Images Extra Information Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.) Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 3-6-20. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of March 9, 2020. SOUND – ~4 sec This week, that mystery sound opens an episode about an early breeding frog commonly found in the eastern half of Virginia as well as throughout the southern United States.  Have a listen for about 10 more seconds and see if you know this frog.  And here’s a hint: think of a big cat and you’ll hit the spot on part of this amphibian’s name. SOUNDS - ~11 sec If you guessed a leopard frog, you’re right!  You heard the male breeding call of the Coastal Plains Leopard Frog, from the 2008 CD, “The Calls of Virginia Frogs and Toads,” by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and Lang Elliott’s NatureSound Studio.  On that CD, the call is identified as that of the Southern Leopard Frog, which until a few years ago was the common name of this species.  The now Coastal Plains Leopard Frog is one of several North American species of leopard frog, including the Northern, Plains, Rio Grande, and Mid-Atlantic Coast leopard frogs; the latter is a newly confirmed species, just scientifically documented in 2014.  The leopard frogs, along with the Bullfrog, Green Frog, and several other species, and are in the scientific genus called Lithobates, meaning “stone that walks.” The Coastal Plains Leopard Frog is found from Long Island, New York, to Florida, across the South to Texas, and up the Mississippi River basin to parts of the Midwest.  In Virginia, it breeds relatively early, starting in March when large groups gather and males begin making advertisement calls, such as you heard earlier.  This frog inhabits ponds, swamps, ditches, stream margins, and other freshwater habitats, as well as somewhat salty coastal marshes, although it can venture some distance from water if plants are available for cover and shade.  Its food is primarily insects that it hunts on land; in turn, it’s preyed upon by a variety of animals, including birds, mammals, and various snakes that eat adult frogs, while eggs and tadpoles are eaten by fish, salamanders, aquatic insects, and fishing spiders. Thanks to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and to Lang Elliott for permission to use this week’s sounds, and we let Coastal Plains Leopard Frogs have the last call. SOUNDS – ~8 sec SHIP’S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Coastal Plains/Southern Leopard Frog sounds in this episode were from “The Calls of Virginia Frogs and Toads” CD, copyright 2008 by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) and Lang Elliott/NatureSound Studio, used with permission.  For more information on this CD, contact VDGIF online at https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/; by mail to P.O. Box 90778, Henrico, VA 23228-0778; by phone to (804) 367-1000 (VTDD); or by e-mail to [email protected].  Lang Elliott’s work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/. Thanks to Kevin Hamed, Virginia Tech Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, for his help with this episode. Click here if you’d like to hear the full ve