Next Review: Amazing Software From BCID

There will be a few products being reviewed, in the near future... The next product to be reviewed, will be this simply amazing bat call identification software package from BCID

I won't go into too many details now, but I urge you to take a quick look at their Software Page, and see for yourself.
This is something that American Bat Researchers can really use!

An excerpt, from their Website:

BCID East

• Version 2.4m -- Released 5/9/12
• Improved wav to zero crossing converter to allow more file types, including 2 channel files*
• Params files can now be selected from any folder on the users computer.
• Updated a few states where species were missing or unable to be turned off.
• Used by more than a dozen Professional Consulting Companies.
• Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and 7 both 32 and 64 bit systems.

*One of my favorite features!

New Must Have Book For UK Readers! British Bat Calls

An awesome new book will be shipping soon. It will be of particular interest to bat enthusiasts in the UK:

British Bat Calls
A Guide to Species Identification
Jon Russ

185 pages, colour illustrations, distribution maps.

Pelagic Publishing

...How I wish such a book existed for American bats! *sigh*
You Folks in the UK are very lucky (in more ways than one!)...

You may pre-order the book, from NHBS via the link below:

Great New Bat Blog From Germany

Fledermaus!

I'd like to share a really nice bat detector page I just "discovered" - The author of the blog, Johann Schilling, was nice enough to include a link to my blog on it : )

http://fledermausruf.blogspot.de/

(It's in German, but can be easily translated with Web-based tools if need be (Babel Fish, etc.)

I strongly urge you to visit, and have a look around! - There are some incredibly informative links about bat detecting there! (many of which, are in English).

Happy bat detecting!

Pettersson D240X Review In The Next WSRS Journal

For those who are interested, or who are already Members - Just FYI: 

The Spring 2012 edition of the WSRS Journal 'Wildlife Sound' 

Coming very soon for WSRS Members!

It will feature a slightly different version, of my review of The D240X.

Link to The WSRS  Website

Devices Used For Recording Orthoptera (Singing Insects)

In addition to detecting bats: I occasionally do enjoy detecting, and attempting to identify Orthopetra (various singing insects). I'm going to try to keep this post as brief as possible. I simply want to share the results of tests I've done; using a few different bat detectors, etc.
For those who are also interested in singing insects, there are two books that I can highly recommend:
The first is 'Guide To Night-Singing Insects Of The Northeast' by John Himmelman.
The second, is called 'The Songs Of Insects' by Lang Elliot and Wil Hershberger. They both cover the Orthoptera of the Northeastern United States.
In the US, they may be found just about anywhere books are sold.

For Readers in the UK & Europe who are interested, they may be purchased from NHBS, by clicking on the links below:

The second book, is the one I used for my testing: I used recordings from the (included) audio CD; limiting my focus to the songs of insects that happened to be in the sub-audible range. I suppose they may also be described as "near-ultrasonic". In other words, tracks that I had a bit of trouble hearing with the naked ear. I find the whole subject rather fascinating. Here are the track numbers used, along with the insect names:

#25 Short-Winged Meadow Katydid
#26 Slender Meadow Katydid
#27 Woodland Meadow Katydid
#28 Saltmarsh Meadow Katydid

So, the tests were really simple: Did the device or bat detector used "hear" the recording or not?

---------------------------Below, are the devices - Along with the results-----------------------------------

  Olympus DS-30    ZoomH2     BatBox Baton    Wildlife Acoustics' EM3       BatBox Griffin

#25         No               No                 Yes                         Yes                             Yes
#26         No               No                 Yes                         Yes                             Yes
#27         No               No                 Yes                         Yes                             Yes
#28         No               No                 Yes                         Yes                             Yes

Well, that's really about it - I'll gauge the interest in this subject/post, and if it is "popular" then I may do the same test with a couple of other bat detectors, etc.

Happy bat (and bug) detecting!

Attention: Developers Of Bat Call Analysis Software

Attention: Developers Of Bat Call Analysis Software - Just FYI: If you have ever considered having your software tested and reviewed (on this site, for instance): Then, I'd say that now would be a good time to contact me.

The weather in my area, has just recently reverted back to Winter-like temperatures and conditions. I also believe that the wind has been one of the main things keeping the bats from hunting.
These current weather conditions have delayed the natural "start" of "Bat detecting season" here in the Northeastern United States.
This would simply be the most opportune time for me to focus on software reviews. I have recently learned of a few more (brand-new) bat detectors being announced/released this year. Once the new detectors start popping up - I'll be focusing my time on the detailed and thorough reviews of each of them.

It appears that we will have at least another week of this weather...Which reminds me:
As I've stated before, I consider Winter to be a good time to go over the bat recordings/sonograms collected during the warmer months. And, to also make attempts at species ID.

Of course, lots of people enjoy bat detecting for different reasons. I even know of a popular kit provider, who enjoys the simple pleasure of detecting bats in "real-time" - Just for the aesthetic quality of their communications. Simply listening to the detector-converted sounds of local bats as they go about their nightly activities. And, who would disagree? Not I.
But, for me - I suppose that in time... (eventually) the ultimate goal, is the satisfaction of identifying the species that was recorded. This is what makes bat detecting exciting and challenging for, let's say, an intermediate-level, or even well-experienced hobbyist.

While we're on the subject...
The "distillation" and polishing, of the raw data (recordings) acquired with detecting devices - Generally requires a few steps. A typical work flow might be as follows:

First, locating the actual bat recording, amidst the (usual) copious amounts of: Background noise, false triggers, and long recordings of non-bat events, etc.
Second, editing the bat call: In my particular case, this consists of cutting/pasting into a new audio file; choosing the desired file format to convert or save the sound file in, naming the file, and utilizing relevant information whenever possible (date/time/temp/weather) in the file name.
Third, using your favorite software application to create a sonogram.
Fourth, (and finally) measuring/comparing the resulting sonograms to: Notes, known sonograms (confirmed bat species), and so forth... In an effort to determine exactly which species of bat you've recorded.

For many, (myself included) the basic steps outlined above are simply a labor of love. But, we shouldn't ignore the fact, that there are quite a few software applications out there; which can make this process a lot less tedious. This is an exciting prospect. These are valuable, time-saving software packages that have built-in bat sonogram libraries. Very neat!

Of course, having an extensive library of confirmed bat calls, at your disposal, provides a tremendous advantage. I've glanced over quite a few of the currently available programs. Each application (manufacturer) has their own method, of providing the end-user with the means to ID the sonograms they've acquired. Some software packages are a bit more automated than others.

Most of these software packages are not cheap! Especially the good ones! (of course).
Therefore, I thought it would be nice, for my Readers to have access to reviews of some of these applications - To aid in making decisions on which one to purchase.

Again, there quite a few out there. I do know for a fact, that many bat equipment (and software) manufacturers check this site from time-to time.
So, rather than contacting each software developer individually - I decided that this simple blog post should work well enough. I have, in fact, reached out to a bat software developer once. But, was did not receive a reply.

Although I've touched on this a bit, in an earlier post -For those who were wondering - I currently use Audacity (free), and BatScan from BatBox Ltd.
BatScan is very inexpensive, and very simple to use: I like it!

It's always nice to have a thorough review available; to inform and give a potential owner a clear idea of what to expect. I'll admit, that I have been curious to know which applications work best. I was just visiting some bat product Websites recently... Especially, NHBS
My renewed  interest, of the subject of bat call analysis software, was a result of coming upon the software offered Here. This package sells for ~ $100 less than the call analysis software that I originally had my eye on (last year).

So, we'll see...

The BatBox Griffin - New Firmware, Further Improvements: On The Horizon...

A new firmware release is currently in the works, from BatBox Ltd. It has not been officially announced or published yet. But, it will be released soon... Of course, it will be for their flagship model: The Griffin.
It is firmware version 22; this will be the successor to the recently released Ver. 21 firmware.
For now, I'll just state that I happen to be very happy about the new improvements!

Something else is soon-to-be-released for the Griffin, which will be of interest to Bat Workers, Biologists, and Researchers: A new Remote Kit - See photos below:

This new kit will be made available for purchase soon; and will include the rechargeable battery pack.
Very cool!

Happy bat detecting!

The BatBox Griffin - New Firmware, New Features!

The BatBox Griffin - Well, the (last) new firmware (Ver. 21) installed just as smoothly as the previous firmware updates. Less than 10 minutes for the whole procedure. The unit powers itself off automatically when finished. A few short applications run upon the following power-up; and that's it.
Going forward, the unit behaves normally. The new features are now in effect and available. Namely:

* Time expansion recording now has the option of choosing x10 or x16.
· From BatBox: "Time expansion has two selectable modes x10 and x16. Menu access to this option is via the ‘settings’ page under ‘sample rate’."
> As for myself, I prefer a factor of 10x when using a time expansion instrument. 10x time expansion is the type that you will most commonly come across. I'll remind the Reader, that I am a Hobbyist. I will say, that many Bat Workers, and Bat Research Professionals may find the 16x useful: For more detailed studies of the recordings in general.
* iBats - The ability to automatically record in iBats format, so that one may participate in the iBats program.
· From BatBox: "A new unattended option for ‘auto record’ modes is an iBats program, which exactly mimics the recording format of the Pettersson D240x in 320ms continuous mode, as used in the international iBats car survey program."
> I have tested this new feature, although I do not currently participate in the iBats Survey Program.
* Fully adjustable Hi-Pass and Lo-Pass Filters, to be used for recording in unattended modes.
· From BatBox: "New adjustable hi-pass and lo-pass filters have been added to unattended modes, accessible via the ‘settings’ page in the menu. This will enable the selection of particular bandwidths in order to avoid background triggering and also make it easier to focus on target species. The filters affect only the triggering, the metering and frequency division but not the full spectrum recording, so that quality of triggered recordings will not be compromised."
> This is one of my favorite new features. I was very glad to see these HPF & LFP filters. When it comes to electronics, and especially bioacoustic recording devices: I have always had a fascination with filters. I plan to study and test these further (and report my findings, etc.). I believe they will prove to be very valuable when monitoring (recording) bats in areas with man-made noise, etc.
· From BatBox: "Playback of recordings has a % of file displayed on the screen in real time so that bat passes can be accurately noted for position in the recordings."

I'm happy to report, that I've had the opportunity to see each of these (welcomed) new features in action. I've had the time to field test them. And, to also use the options during unattended, nightly monitoring sessions. These new enhancements are pretty much self-explanatory, see below:
(I've added some of my thoughts on each, indicated by the '>') *Please Note* These are just a few of the new features that Version 21 incorporates - There are others...And, I urge you to check out the documentation on the BatBox Griffin Page.