The taxi driver could not believe it. "There are birds flying over at night?" he kept repeating as he looked at me in the rear view mirror. It was Friday afternoon and I was on my way to the Audubon Center at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York City. Beside me on the seat sat a pressure-zone flowerpot microphone, 100 feet of cable, various plugs and adaptors, and my laptop computer.

Tonight would be the premier night for our Nocturnal Bird Migration Listening Concert. The Audubon Center is in a beautifully restored boathouse overlooking a pond and woods. Throughout the afternoon as we worked feverishly with DJ George to set up the sound system we could hear the sounds of singing Blackpoll Warblers, Baltimore Orioles, and Warbling Vireos drifting in from the balcony.

People began arriving at 7:00 for a reception and bird walk and all were ready to celebrate the music of migration as the light began to fade in the evening sky. Soon everyone settled in to hear more about where birds like Blackpoll Warblers and 300 other species migrate north to nest, about bird migration, and how to listen in on the Great Bird Current that passes overhead every spring and fall. We listened to a recording from a fabulous night migration of thrushes to get everyone�s ears tuned up.

Then we turned on the microphone that was set up outside on the roof to see if any birds were migrating despite what were unfortunately rather unfavorable winds. A night-heron squawked, a plane flew over, and then four unmistakable spring peeper like notes�a passing Swainson�s Thrush!

Tina Kelly from the New York Times was there and did a great story about the experience that you can read by clicking here.

The next morning we were on the road again with the equipment in tow. This time headed to the Audubon Center in Greenwich, Connecticut where our second Music of Migration concert would be held. Jeff and John greeted us as we arrived at another beautiful Audubon center tucked into a wooded sanctuary�the song of an Orchard Oriole drifting in from the hillside. Like DJ George at Prospect Park the day before, John hauled in speakers and cables and mixing boards and carts as we worked to set-up the sound system.

Later, noted author and special guest speaker for the night, Scott Weidensaul, pulled in with enough time for a tour and few minutes of birding before the reception. Scott, who wrote an acclaimed book on bird migration called �Living on the Wind� gave an incredible presentation about the wonder and mystery of migration as we waited for darkness to fall.

Jeff (left) and Scott (right)

When the microphone came on, the first sounds we heard were from the Canada Geese on the nearby pond. Later, some squeals and whines from fighting raccoons. Here, as at Prospect Park, the winds were not favorable for bird migration, but at 9:45 there was the unmistakable sounds of a warbler �seep�. A single bird beating hard against the north wind, so anxious to return to where it had been born that it would not be stopped, passed over us and called. Tonight the music of migration was a whisper. But we had heard it.

To find out more about our Nocturnal Bird Migration Listening Concerts and about listening to the sounds of migrating birds click here.