BirdJammin'

This past October I acquired an iPod Touch to replace a dying PDA, and the experience has been better than expected---especially with respect to birding apps. I immediately purchased iBird, an app that has been the finest electronic field guide I've yet seen, as well as some less well known apps. But there was one I delayed...until late December. And it is a jewel. That would be BirdJam. BirdJam is, for the uninitated, an app that allows the user to reference birdsongs in the field including dialects, and through associated playlists to learn bird songs easily and convieniently. The app requires a database which in my case was the Stokes Eastern Bird CDs (a Christmas gift!) and the BirdJam Maker software available through the BirdJam web site. The thing loaded very easily and in almost no time I was up! The first test: I played the song of a Northern Mockingbird to one of that species. It listened for a time...until the distinctive NM hissing call showed up. My pesky Mockingbird immediately bolted! hmmm... Well, I'll be more ethical and use the tool to broaden my "musical" knowledge. I'm one happy BirdJammer now!