Using Cornell’s Mann Library plotter printers and the Digital Printing Center’s laminating capabilities, John, Justin and I were able to make some versions of northwestern Jamaica maps this week. Cropped to show just Cockpit Country and its environs, the maps are big and waterproof and will be perfect for field use if our Garmin Oregon 650 handheld GPS unit fails for whatever reason. This area of Jamaica is full of interesting historical and vernacular place-names like Me No Sen You No Come, Look Behind, Cutthroat, and other regions we’re interested in getting a look at, at least from afar.

This week we also tested out the Roland R-26 recorder and Sennheiser ME 67 microphone that we’ve borrowed from the Lab of Ornithology. This equipment is perfectly suited for making audio recordings of bird calls in the field. In the photo above, you can see John pointing the “shotgun mike” at Justin in Barton Hall to test that everything was working properly. We’ll be using the equipment in the mornings and evenings to record dawn and dusk choruses of the general avifauna around us, and will also, of course, be pulling it out if we see a Golden Swallow.