oehlkers
@oehlkers.bsky.social
college prof (media & com) in Salem, Mass.
Oriole philologist. Wild bird advocacy historian. birdobserver.org
Oriole philologist. Wild bird advocacy historian. birdobserver.org
My happy place rn is pop music from late 1960s Japan.
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Late 1960s Kayōkyoku - YouTube
youtube.com
October 8, 2025 at 10:44 PM
My happy place rn is pop music from late 1960s Japan.
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
A Distinct Success as a Bird. Episode 5: Oriole Philology. Just uploaded (also available via Apple podcasts).
peteroehlkers.podbean.com/e/episode-5-...
peteroehlkers.podbean.com/e/episode-5-...
Episode 5: Oriole Philology | A Distinct Success as a Bird
This is the promised episode on the Baltimore oriole songs of the east side of the Charles River Peninsula. I take a philological approach (explained in the episode). A video including spectrograms of...
peteroehlkers.podbean.com
September 12, 2025 at 10:08 PM
A Distinct Success as a Bird. Episode 5: Oriole Philology. Just uploaded (also available via Apple podcasts).
peteroehlkers.podbean.com/e/episode-5-...
peteroehlkers.podbean.com/e/episode-5-...
Mid-August Baltimore oriole long song. macaulaylibrary.org/asset/640132...
ML640132021 - Baltimore Oriole - Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML640132021; © Peter Oehlkers; Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States
macaulaylibrary.org
August 11, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Mid-August Baltimore oriole long song. macaulaylibrary.org/asset/640132...
Article in August issue of Bird Observer. The Blackbirds of Boxford: Early American Wild Bird Advocacy.
www.birdobserver.org/Issues/2025/...
www.birdobserver.org/Issues/2025/...
August 1, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Article in August issue of Bird Observer. The Blackbirds of Boxford: Early American Wild Bird Advocacy.
www.birdobserver.org/Issues/2025/...
www.birdobserver.org/Issues/2025/...
Senjōgahara, Oku-Nikkō, Japan.
July 18, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Senjōgahara, Oku-Nikkō, Japan.
It is well known that gray catbirds copy the songs of other birds, including Baltimore orioles. But why would this catbird (top) sing the syllables of the oriole song (bottom) in reverse order? #birds #bioacoustics
June 2, 2025 at 10:57 PM
It is well known that gray catbirds copy the songs of other birds, including Baltimore orioles. But why would this catbird (top) sing the syllables of the oriole song (bottom) in reverse order? #birds #bioacoustics
The image of Japan as a bird-friendly nation influenced 19th century U.S. discourse about bird protection.
www.birdobserver.org/Issues/2025/...
www.birdobserver.org/Issues/2025/...
June 2025 | Sparing the Birds: A History of Exchanges between the United States and Japan
Sparing the Birds: A History of Exchanges between the United States and Japan
www.birdobserver.org
June 1, 2025 at 4:55 PM
The image of Japan as a bird-friendly nation influenced 19th century U.S. discourse about bird protection.
www.birdobserver.org/Issues/2025/...
www.birdobserver.org/Issues/2025/...
Baltimore orioles are thought to have individually unique songs, but some communities share songs. I recorded this song exchange, involving three or four different orioles, three days in a row. #birds #fieldrecording ebird.org/checklist/S2...
eBird Checklist - 16 May 2025 - Charles River Peninsula (TTOR) - 1 species
Submitted by Peter Oehlkers.
ebird.org
May 23, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Baltimore orioles are thought to have individually unique songs, but some communities share songs. I recorded this song exchange, involving three or four different orioles, three days in a row. #birds #fieldrecording ebird.org/checklist/S2...
Weird ultrasonic specters in my spectrogram. Anyone know what these might be? Daytime recording. Audiomoth. #fieldrecording
May 23, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Weird ultrasonic specters in my spectrogram. Anyone know what these might be? Daytime recording. Audiomoth. #fieldrecording
Just finished Toshitaka Suzuki's professional memoir 僕には鳥の言葉がわかる [I understand the words of birds], an invitation for everyone to become more "tori-lingual." Especially impressed by the thoughtfulness of his media strategies in trying to spread the word about animal linguistics.
May 21, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Just finished Toshitaka Suzuki's professional memoir 僕には鳥の言葉がわかる [I understand the words of birds], an invitation for everyone to become more "tori-lingual." Especially impressed by the thoughtfulness of his media strategies in trying to spread the word about animal linguistics.
The 27th different Baltimore oriole song I recorded this spring is one of the best. Check out the vibrato. And the jaunty ending. #birds #fieldrecording
macaulaylibrary.org/asset/635694...
macaulaylibrary.org/asset/635694...
ML635694630 - Baltimore Oriole - Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML635694630; © Peter Oehlkers; Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States
macaulaylibrary.org
May 13, 2025 at 5:23 PM
The 27th different Baltimore oriole song I recorded this spring is one of the best. Check out the vibrato. And the jaunty ending. #birds #fieldrecording
macaulaylibrary.org/asset/635694...
macaulaylibrary.org/asset/635694...
Listeners to the Trestleton episodes of my podcast may be pleased to know that Lord and Lady Trestleton have returned to the trestle.
peteroehlkers.podbean.com/e/episode-2-...
peteroehlkers.podbean.com/e/episode-2-...
Episode 2. Trestleton (Part 1) | A Distinct Success as a Bird
A birdsong-based story about four Baltimore orioles, framed as a romance novel. Follow Lord and Lady Trestleton, Lord Railtrailton, and a mystery bird, as they fall in love and try to ward off competi...
peteroehlkers.podbean.com
May 7, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Listeners to the Trestleton episodes of my podcast may be pleased to know that Lord and Lady Trestleton have returned to the trestle.
peteroehlkers.podbean.com/e/episode-2-...
peteroehlkers.podbean.com/e/episode-2-...
Braved the pollen and went recording this morning, and good thing! The orioles are back, Orchard and Baltimore. The Baltimore I recorded is a veteran male, singing a variation of the dominant song at the property.
April 25, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Braved the pollen and went recording this morning, and good thing! The orioles are back, Orchard and Baltimore. The Baltimore I recorded is a veteran male, singing a variation of the dominant song at the property.
Just uploaded, 1916 volume of The Complete Little Stories for Bedtime by Thornton W. Burgess.
twbresearchleague.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-...
twbresearchleague.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-...
The Complete Little Stories for Bedtime, Year 5. 1916
Newly uploaded, The Complete Little Stories for Bedtime by Thornton W. Burgess 1916 . All the stories from that year plus four appendices,...
twbresearchleague.blogspot.com
April 2, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Just uploaded, 1916 volume of The Complete Little Stories for Bedtime by Thornton W. Burgess.
twbresearchleague.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-...
twbresearchleague.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-...
Wondering exactly where Meaningful Stone (김뜻돌) sourced the soundscape recording for the end of "10AM." American robin/blue jay/northern cardinal/mourning dove could easily be my backyard. youtu.be/DOl6BryH0JQ?...
10AM
YouTube video by Meaningful Stone - Topic
youtu.be
March 7, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Wondering exactly where Meaningful Stone (김뜻돌) sourced the soundscape recording for the end of "10AM." American robin/blue jay/northern cardinal/mourning dove could easily be my backyard. youtu.be/DOl6BryH0JQ?...
Took all afternoon, but I finally tracked down this passage by Christopher Gedner (Linné's student) which spuriously introduced a second "Colonial America regrets putting bounties on blackbirds" tale into the entomology literature. The first is this one: wingedwardens.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-...
February 26, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Took all afternoon, but I finally tracked down this passage by Christopher Gedner (Linné's student) which spuriously introduced a second "Colonial America regrets putting bounties on blackbirds" tale into the entomology literature. The first is this one: wingedwardens.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-...
Oh yellow-bellied sapsucker, you could be in Costa Rica right now, but instead you are here in freezing weather, huddled against a branch of the mountain laurel in front of my house, waiting for the squirrel to get off the suet feeder.
February 17, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Oh yellow-bellied sapsucker, you could be in Costa Rica right now, but instead you are here in freezing weather, huddled against a branch of the mountain laurel in front of my house, waiting for the squirrel to get off the suet feeder.
Birdsong identification talk on Japanese TV. "Don't Mejiro (Japanese white-eye) go 'kyuu-kyuu'?" Alice-san chi no Iroribata, Episode 1.
February 2, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Birdsong identification talk on Japanese TV. "Don't Mejiro (Japanese white-eye) go 'kyuu-kyuu'?" Alice-san chi no Iroribata, Episode 1.
A reference in 鳥たちのフランス文学 has sent me next to Pascal Quignard's Dans ce jardin qu'on aimait, about Simeon Pease Cheney, 19th century American spiritualist birdsong transcriber.
February 1, 2025 at 10:59 PM
A reference in 鳥たちのフランス文学 has sent me next to Pascal Quignard's Dans ce jardin qu'on aimait, about Simeon Pease Cheney, 19th century American spiritualist birdsong transcriber.
Latest personal translation project arrives from Kinokuniya. French Bird Lit in Japanese. (details in Alt text)
January 16, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Latest personal translation project arrives from Kinokuniya. French Bird Lit in Japanese. (details in Alt text)
Podcast Episode 4. A two-hour recording of my June 11 kayak trip up the Charles River and back, oriole song indicated in episode description timeline.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Episode 4. A kayak trip up the Charles River in search of Baltimore oriole song.
Podcast Episode · A Distinct Success as a Bird · 01/15/2025 · 1h 58m
podcasts.apple.com
January 15, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Podcast Episode 4. A two-hour recording of my June 11 kayak trip up the Charles River and back, oriole song indicated in episode description timeline.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Dismal New Year’s morn, but if you listen carefully, you may hear a pair of bluebirds.
January 1, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Dismal New Year’s morn, but if you listen carefully, you may hear a pair of bluebirds.
"쑥국 쑥국 쑥쑥국 쑥국" is the signature birdsong moment in some contemporary arrangements of the Korean song "새 타령" (Sae Taryeong/Bird Song). I asked Gemini what species it was intended to represent and it scolded me, in Korean, for being too literal-minded.
December 24, 2024 at 9:44 PM
"쑥국 쑥국 쑥쑥국 쑥국" is the signature birdsong moment in some contemporary arrangements of the Korean song "새 타령" (Sae Taryeong/Bird Song). I asked Gemini what species it was intended to represent and it scolded me, in Korean, for being too literal-minded.
At the end of the day, maybe my role in life is to provide fansub-style culture notes for folks who want to understand the bird jokes in "Talentless Takano" (Netflix). #無能の鷹野
October 27, 2024 at 12:03 PM
At the end of the day, maybe my role in life is to provide fansub-style culture notes for folks who want to understand the bird jokes in "Talentless Takano" (Netflix). #無能の鷹野