A Big Thank You to the Starling Cloud Choir!

I just wanted to say a big thanks to all the folks who participated in the Starling Cloud Choir and the audience who came and added their voices as well. I was so pleased with the way things went, and just kept repeating the mantra: GO WITH THE FLOW!

So that's what we did. We had goals, structures, but we also flowed in and out of the framework, making a piece shaped by the venue, the participants, the weather, and our bodies.

I also want to thank the staff at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden, who were very good at working with our artist collective to shape the show and connect with the local community. I am already cooking up the next piece I want to do at the garden which involves more bird song and a tea party.

I took the day off today to recover, but my next residency starts next Sunday. Stay tuned for the details!

What's Brown and Creeps?

This past week I had a lovely encounter at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese garden with a birder who is a choral conductor. He said that he was excited because he and his wife had seen a skylark at the Victoria airport. Apparently, there is a population who likes to hang out there. He was also quite chuffed that he'd seen a brown creeper.

Well, on my way to choir last night it was pouring rain and getting dark. I was a block away from the rehearsal hall and a tiny bird on a tree caught my eye. It was brown, it was creeping, and it had a soft grey belly. My mouth filled with drops of rain as I peered out from under my hood to get a good look. Guess what it was? You got it, a Brown Creeper. Isn't it cool when people connect through their love of nature? Awesome.

Gathering Rain at The Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden

We have begun installing our work in the garden, working rain or shine. Robin Ripley's piece is adjacent to the Room of One Hundred Rivers. On Saturday it appeared to be gathering sunlight rather than rain.

 This gorgeous woven willow snake looms in the water at the center of the garden. It was created by lead artist Alastair Heseltine and volunteers.

Peter Courtemanche is in the process of creating his interactive sound installation.

 Robin has worked with a steady stream of garden visitors to create watercolor art that is builds an awareness of just how much water falls in Vancouver and makes us more concious of our daily water use.

Yesterday Robin's cloud was drenched with rainfall.

DJ Don Chow recorded my improvisations and some of the songs we'll be using in The Starling Cloud Choir. He'll be creating his own remix which you can enjoy this Saturday at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden just after the choir performs at 3 pm.

If you are in the neighborhood today, drop by the garden to see three of the artists at work: Peter Courtemanche, Robin Ripley, and Diana Burgoyne.

Rain Labs and Rain Gatherers Opening

Drop in Rain Labs continue at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden Wednesday March 13, and Thursday March 14. You can chat with the Second Site artists as they are installing their pieces in the garden. (The pieces will all be up for the opening, but until then, they are works in progress.)

Then Saturday, March 16th it's the opening! The opening starts at 2 pm. The choir will warm up at 2:30 p.m. and then we will perform at 3 p.m. After the performance, DJ Don Chow will perform a remix of some of the recordings we did today and in the class at Laura Secord Elementary. All the Second Site artists will be in attendance and you can talk to them about their work.

Record Your Bird Sounds With Don Chow!

Come on down to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese garden this Tuesday, March 12 from 1:30 to 3 pm!  Lori Weidenhammer will work with participants to record bird and rain sounds with Dj Don Chow who will be using them in his sound mix on March 16 after the choir performs. Please dress for comfort and warmth and bring your own water bottle/or tea cup. No need to pre-register, just come to the front entrance to sign in for the workshop and you can enter the garden for free. Robin Ripley will be at the garden as well. Robin has a water-colour activity you can take part in, and you can also talk to her about her installation.

Thanks to all the folks who came out this weekend to rehearse the Starling Cloud Choir. We had a lot of fun! The  performance of the Starling Cloud Choir is at on Saturday March 16 at 3 pm. Performers please arrive at 2:30 pm for a warm up and orientation. (Also, if you sing in the choir, you can come to the opening for free!) You will be invited to explore the art installations by the other Second Site artists. The performance dress code is eccentric! Channel the bird-lover in your heart and display your best (rainy day) plumage.

The Starling Cloud Choir Continues Today!!

Hey folks! The Starling Cloud Choir continues today, March 10! Please note that even if you can't make the performance, you can still participate in the workshops. Please spread the word! See you at 2 pm!


BONUS!!! Peter Courtemanche and Robin Ripley will also be at the garden today, working on their installations and you can talk to them about their art and make watercolor paintings.


Also, don't forget that the clocks sprung ahead last night!


The Starling Cloud Choir
This is a family-friendly workshop and performance where you will use your voice to make sound poetry in a group in a piece inspired by rain and birdsong. We'll be working with bird behaviour and the mnemonics and phonetics of local bird song. We'll also be exploring the sound of the rain using our voices and I will ask you to improvise around some of my own poetry. This is your opportunity to be in a performance art choir! Bring your family and friends!

You are invited to attend one or both of two workshops the weekend before the performance. Saturday March 9 and Sunday, March 10 from 2 to 3:30 pm both days. Please dress for comfort and warmth and bring your own water bottle/or tea cup. No need to pre-register, just come to the front entrance to sign in for the workshops. Bonus Drop in Rain Lab: Tues, March 12 from 1:30- 3 pm you are invited to record your bird and rain sounds with Dj Don Chow who will be using them in his mix on March 16.

The Improvisational Performance of the Starling Cloud Choir is at on Saturday March 16 at 3 pm. Performers please arrive at 2:30 pm for a warm up and orientation. You will be invited to explore the art installations by the other Second Site artists. The performance dress code is eccentric! Channel the bird-lover in you and display your best (rainy day) plumage.

Where: The Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden, 578 Carrall Street
Cost to participate: Free!

For more information follow along the creative process on Lori Weidenhammer's blog: www.beespeakersaijiki.blogspot.com
If you can't join us for the workshops, please come to the opening and check out the art installations by Second Site artist Robin Ripley, Diana Burgoyne and Matt Smith. The choir will be performing at 3 pm and the audience will be invited to participate! (See the info below.)

Sounds We Love and Sounds We Hate

 When I was teaching students at Mount Pleasant Elementary, I noticed these posters one class had made when they were studying sound. What's that I see in blue ink in the lower left side: Justin Bieber? Quel surprise! Does he really sound as bad as cars screeching, babies crying and coffee grinding?

Hello, here we have the sounds the students like: purring cats and popping popcorn, but is that the band One Direction I see? Wait a minute. Weren't they mentioned on the first poster as well? Seems they are a band of contention.

Well, dear reader, this past weekend as I was practicing overtone singing I had an epiphany of sorts when I realized that singing the name "Justin Bieber" and the phrase "Bieber Fever" over and over again really brings out the overtones. So there you go. Inspiration can strike from the oddest sources! Just try it and see if it works for you!

Looking for Starling Cloud Choir posts? Click here!

Convergence and Divergence

This past week I found myself drawn to the self-help section of The Terry Salman Library. This doesn't happen very often, honest! I chose a book called The Chairs are Where the People Go by  Sheila Heti and Misha Glouberman. (Elegant website, btw.) Heti transcribed Glouberman's ruminations on a variety of topics, many which are actually dear to my heart, such as how chairs are set up for a performance or reading. (As a performer, this kind of thing makes me crazy--a poorly set up room serves as an echo chamber for social anxiety.) Anyhow, it's a fun, easy-to read-book, kind of like walking alongside an interesting friend who's in a talkative mood. As a Canadian, he's not forceful about his ideas and isn't trying to convince you they will change or save your life--which is refreshing in a self-help book section.

So turns out monsieur Glouberman does workshops in vocal improvisation and he has in fact changed my life, or he will have once I try this experience with my students. The group starts on the same sound and then slowly begins to diverge into chaos until they are reigned in again and slowly begin to merge into one sound again. Brilliant!

Tum balalaika

I learned this song when I was a very young girl (in English) and I would like us to sing this in the Starling Cloud Choir, so please learn the chorus and practice some harmony if you can. I want to change the last few syllables because the English lyrics I sung were awkward. Any better suggestions would be appreciated!

This video is a moving performance of the song in Yiddish by pupils at the Lycée La Fontaine in Paris.


Tumbala tumbala tum balalaika
Tumbala tumbala tum balalaika
Tum balalaika, play balalaika
Tum balalaika, happy you'll be.


 

The Starling Cloud Choir Starts this Saturday!!!!!!!!

Hey Folks!

The Starling Cloud Choir Experiment starts this Saturday at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden at 2 pm!!!!!!!!!

I have a couple of quick notes:

First of all you do not have to go to every workshop to sing at the performance on March 16. So, please feel free to choose your workshops or best of all, come to all three!

Second, the performance is gonna be FUN but if you are leaving town for spring break or just can't make the performance, you can still come to the workshops!

Check the announcement again for the times and dates and please invite your friends and spread the invite via your social networks. Regretfully, I am not an FB or Twitter extrovert, so I'm relying on you mes amis formidable.

Finally, I have been blogging about the process, so if you click on the Starling Cloud Choir subject link, all will be revealed. (Note: This is optional. There will not be a test.)

I also want you to know that the other fabulous Second Site Artists will be available at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden during our Rain Lab to reveal part of the process of creating their installations. Check out the website for the full calendar.

Love and Peace!

Lori

The Starling Cloud Choir with Lori Weidenhammer is a family-friendly workshop series and performance where you will use your voice to sing and make sound poetry in a piece inspired by rain and birdsong. Bring your family and friends! No experience necessary. (Presented as part of The Rain Gatherers site-specific art installation by Second Site: www.secondsitecollective.net)

@The Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden, 578 Carrall Street

Workshop 1: Saturday March 9, 2 to 3:30 pm

Workshop 2: Sunday March 10, 2 to 3:30 pm

Drop in RAIN Lab: Tues March 12, 1:30 to 3 pm

Record your bird and rain sounds with

DJ Don Chow:

Performance: Saturday March 16 at 3 pm (performers please arrive at 2:30 pm to warm up)

Cost to participate: *FREE IF YOU REGISTER by sending Lori an e-mail at beespeaker(at)gmail(dot)com or sign in at the door.

For more information, follow along the creative process on Lori Weidenhammer's blog: www.beespeakersaijiki.blogspot.com. Lori Weidenhammer is a performance-based artist who likes to collaborate with birds, bees, and humans.

If you can't join us for the workshops, please come to the opening and check out

The Rain Gatherers art installations by Second Site artists

Robin Ripley, Peter Courtemanche, Diana Burgoyne and Matt Smith.

The choir will be performing at 3 pm and the audience will be invited to participate!

The Dark Side of Starlings

 In this NPR podcast on bringing Purple Martins back to Chicago, Zhana Yemnikov talks about the darker side of starling and why they can be an invasive species.

Don't miss this charming podcast called My Hummingbird Summer, about caring for baby hummingbirds.

This NPR podcast talks about how the gift of mimicry can save a cuckoo's life.

Here's another incredibly beautiful mimic: The Lyrebird Steps up to the Microphone. I love the story of how David Stewart gets his recording.

These are all safe for school listening.

These podcasts are also from a CD I took out of the library called NPR Sound Treks: Spellbinding tales of flight, feather, and song. . . .

A Couple of Woodpecker Songs

The Woodpecker Song by Glenn Miller, sung by the Andrews Sisters. (1940)



Woody Woodpecker by Kay Kyser and his orchestra sung by Gloria Wood. (1948)



Here's the same song sung by Danny Kaye and the Andrew Sisters. (1950)

The Talking Magpies

After working with the students, I realized I needed more humor and levity at the beginning of the Starling Cloud Choir piece. Here's an old Heckle and Jeckle Cartoon for inspiration, with some great sounds and just good old animated comedy. (This video is classroom safe, rated G by me.) Is there a particular cartoon voice you're really good at? Practice your mad cartoon skillz!

A Creative Classroom

I was very privileged to work with a class at Laura Secord Elementary. The teacher and the students wowed me with their creative spirit and eagerness to engage with the world around them.

And whenever you meet wonderful and interesting people you learn new things. I was very intrigued by this system of using body signs with vowels.

Here is a poster illustrating the different ways that French and English speakers phonetically mimic the sounds of animals and birds. Les hiboux huhulent!

 Le vocabulaire!

This poster is so sweet. I think it should be a banner in the House of Commons! Order in the House! Whole Body Listening! WBL!

 Here's a fantastic craft project for The Year of the Snake.

As I was doing my research I found that Canadian poet Paul Dutton has done a sound poem called Murmur. So I commissioned the students to create their own homage to Monsieur Dutton and they came up with some great stuff. I see you can even download the Murmur poem for your ring tone on you cell phone. That is hilarious! I am looking forward to further adventures with this creative group.

 As I was walking around the neighbordhood I noticed a house that had beehives insulated and well protected from any vermin that might try to access the hives in the winter.

The garage had a bat box as well.  This is what a green city looks like!

On Pink Shirt Day, as we celebrate human difference and diversity it's also wonderful to celebrate biodiversity as well. Vive le difference!

The Rain Gatherers

 Here's the information on the Second Site show that includes my project the Starling Cloud Choir. I feel so excited to be working among these talented artists. As I write this the rain is pouring down in sheets and so I must remind you our events will happen RAIN or SHINE and will be MORE interesting in the rain. So get some good rain gear sorted and take solace in the fact that their is a lovely heated room at the garden where you can warm up with hot tea.

 "The Rain Gatherers" - In March and April of 2013, Second Site will
work with rain collecting, "rain power" and rain sensors at the Dr.
Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. Join us for Workshops + Lab
Sessions (March 9, 10, 12, 13, 14), an Exhibition opening and birdsong
performance (March 16), and a Tour + Artist Talk + Ideas Session
(March 23).

http://www.secondsitecollective.net/

The show will feature work by Diana Burgoyne, Don Chow, Peter
Courtemanche, Robin Ripley, Matt Smith, and Lori Weidenhammer.

Second Site collective is a group of artists (mostly from Vancouver,
Canada) who create and present electronic art (sound, kinetics,
robotics, primal circuitry, sculpture) in public spaces. The
collective is particularly interested in green spaces - parks,
gardens, areas of urban agriculture, beaches, and "urban wilderness".
The art created by Second Site causes the audience to do a "double
take", transforming a familiar space into a "meta-site". A meta-site
is a place where art has created a heightened sensory experience. It
causes a sense of curiosity and enchantment in the viewer. A meta-site
is a place where one hears a set of sounds behind the expected sounds,
where familiar sites are remapped and re-inscribed with artistic
inventions.


Rain Lab - March 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 (10:30 am to noon + 1 pm to 3:30 pm)
Exhibition Opening - March 16 (at 2 pm, performance at 3 pm)
Tour + Artist Talk + Ideas Session - March 23 (at 1:30 pm) Hosted by
"Group of X"

Crow Hour Score

Be sure to check out the photos of the Twilight Crow Bike Ride organized by The Still Moon Arts Society. I am looking forward to creating an imaginary Crow Hour at the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden with this simple score:

Crow Hour

Even the skateboarders stop one by one,

forming a silent audience.

It's crow hour;

the mauve clouds of dusk dispense

an accumulation of birds

we call a murder.

 Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw!Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw!Caw! Caw! Caw! Caw!

Instruction:

When I point to you, make the sound of a crow.

Start soft, build to loud, then fade to soft as if you are journeying across the sky.

[Pause.]

Starling Cloud Choir: Loons Yodel

This is a draft of how the piece will end. I was inspired by my friend Anakana Schofield's blog post on Jim O' Rourke's composition for the Glasgow Improvisors Orchestra to add the instructions to the choir. How will I present the instructions I wonder? Any suggestions out there? The funny thing is, when I listen to the two compositions on the Beeb they sound like starlings to me!

The Finale: Loons Yodel

[start with whisper rain sounds, soft and gentle under Lori's song]

splish splish

poc, poc

The mist settles in the cedars,

Water drip drops from the tip tops

of branches,

splish splish

pockle pockle

Mice whisper in the grass,

pocka pocka pocka pocka pockapock pocka

The earth contracts

and the moon pulls at the dreams tangled in your hair.

pockity pockity pockit pockity

The fog horn grieves.

Lori sings the fog horn solo: Ahh OOOooooo Gah

Ahhh OOOOOOooooogah

[background sounds drips drops]

pickity pockety pockety

tikita tockita tikita tockita tikita tokita

pocka pocka pock apocka

Loons yodel:

Lori's loon solo: Qui Appelle? Qui Appelle?

coo coo (soft and slow) Koo Koo Ullie Koo Koo Ullie (Koo Koo Oo LEE)

[Rain sounds slow and we enter the songs of the frogs and the green heron.]

plipplip plip

Plip plop,

tic toc,

drip, drop,

oon ka lunk [choir makes green heron sounds]

Harmonics slide down to gunk [choir makes frog sounds]

[Segue way into sinister evening--spooky rain sounds inspired by Agatha Christie's Poirot]

spish! Spish!

mortimer. . . mortimer. . .

plickety plockety plockety

trippa troppa trippa troppa

mortimer--mortimers

kishkishkishkishkish

oo ooo oo oooo

Knock knock knock Knock knock [knock on chest]

Who're You? Who who who are you?

CAW CAW CAW

[choir improvises screeches of night creatures]

USE OF INSTRUMENTS available

Instruction: (use our body or what ever you have in your pockets as a percussion instrument--find your own rhythm and improvise!)

Night Scene

Who Cooks for you? [We ask each other]

Mamamamammama mamma mia!

Who cooks for you?

Papapapapapa pappageno!

Who cooks for you?

Ma big big big babba!

Lori's Comedic Turn-No really, who does cook for you--your motha? Poisonally I prefer a raw diet: etc.

Knock knock who's there?

It's me woody.

Woody who

Woody you like to go out wit me? Nnanananananana!

[Lori leads a woody woodypecker call and response]

Instruction: The choir take turns doing their own knock knock jokes.

Knock knock

Who's there?

Who's there?

[orange... etc.]

Nocturnal.

Nocturnal Who? Nocturnal Knocker Knocking

[End with this:]

oooo oo? ooo ooo

[Yawn.]

You awake? Me tooooo. [very yawny]

You asleep?

Mee toooo.

Me toooooooooo.

Me tooo

Tea Party Score

 I'm having great fun creating this score. Here's how the tea party is looking so far. I've put the bird connected to the mnemonic phrases in square brackets. I'm looking forward to adding some visual elements to the score.

Part 3: The Tea Party

The builder sits
on the edge of a cinder block fence
tea drops into a thermos
full of sweet, hot chai

hummingbirds kvetch
at the witchhazel bush
sweet box blossoms make me swoon
it's time to drink sweet tea with you

Phoebe, come to tea! [black capped chickadee] Come on you all, come to tea!

Polly put the kettle on, the kettle on the kettle on
Polly put the kettle on, we'll all have tea [first half time, then speed up later]

Won't you be the sugar in ma tea?--A- B flat

[scat and improvisational section everyone else is the rhythm section using these bird songs]

tweedle dum, tweedle dee tweedle dum tweedle dee deeee [American Robin]

Sweet sweet sweet, I'm so sweet! [yellow warbler]
Sweet sweet sweet, you're so sweet!
sweet sweet sweet, sweeter than sweet!

Conkaree--drink your tea conka ree ya! [red-winged black bird] Drink your tea Pheobe, Phoebe. . . Drink your tea Phoebe!

Show us how you drink your tea! [An invitation to others to sing solos on how they like their tea. Give them encouragement!]

C'mon ladies!

Boys boys, how do you like your tea?

Cheeriup, cheerily, [American robin] ladies, ladies, drink your tea.

Pure sweet canaDA canaDA CanadDA [White throated sparrow] how do you like your tea?

Me--I like sweet Canadian tea with maple syrup! No milk no for me--straight up yesiree.

Madge, how do you like your tea?

Madge madge, pick beetles off, the water's hot hot hot! [song sparrow]

No no that's not how I like my tea! I don't WANT beetles in my tea--I'm a fruitarian.

Suki take it off again, Suki take it off again, Suki take it off again,
we'll all go away.

we'll all go away
we'll all go away
we'll all go away

[decresc. to a whisper]

[followed by Crow Hour]

Bird Song Review

 Here's a review of the bird songs I am currently studying as source material for the Starling Cloud Choir. I'm in love with the call of the loon right now. Have a listen on these links on the wonderful online Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

*Rufous Hummingbird: calls zeeeee-chuppity-chuppity chup (then the wings go zzzzzzz)
bzeet, bzeet bzeet chup chup, bzeet chuppity chuppity chup
zeet zeet chook chook chook, chookity chookity chook
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rufous_Hummingbird/sounds

*Black-capped Chickadee: call: chik-a-dee-dee-dee
song: feee bee-bee or feee beeyee, P. Diddy
fee bee, come to me
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/id

*White-Throated Sparrow: "poor Sam Pea'body, Pea'body, Pea'body"
"Pure sweet Canada Canada Canada"
whistle: (slow, sustained)Oh sweet old (triplets) CanaDA CanaDA CanaDA (first two notes are higher)
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-throated_Sparrow/id

Song Sparrow
Note: song depends on your region and there are many forms and subspecies of song sparrows
Maids-maids-maids-put-on-your-tea-kettle-ettle-ettle
Hip; hip; hip hurrah boys; spring is here!
Madge; Madge; Madge pick beetles off; the water's hot
sweet sweet sweet n'zreee sugarrrr it it it
sweet sweet sweet as MEEEEE put some sugar on it
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/song_sparrow/sounds

*Bewick's Wren
like Song Sparrow; but thinner; more rapid
BEWR often sings "1-2-3 drink your tea-ea-ea" or "jzzzeeet drink your tea-ea-ea".
calls: plink, plink, skerrr
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bewicks_Wren/sounds

*Olive-sided Flycatcher: Quick, THREE beers, quick quick quick, quick quick
call: pip
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Olive-sided_Flycatcher/id

*Yellow Warbler:"sweet sweet sweet, I'm so sweet"
Highly variable song. Often three part, "sweet sweet little more sweet" or “sweet sweet I’m so very sweet”
Has an urgent, quick quality. Also, "sweet, sweet, sweet, sweeter than sweet!”.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow_Warbler/sounds

*Red-winged Blackbird
chortle-deeeeee (hp and drawn-out last syllable)
*conk-a-reeeeeeeee
coy-la-reeee, tseer tseer, over heeere, cappucheeeno
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/

*Spotted Towhee: drink your teeee!; wack! wack!
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Spotted_Towhee/sounds  

*American Robin: cheerup, cheerily, cheerily
cheer-up; cheer-a-lee; cheer-ee-o
tweedledum tweedledee, tweedledum, tweedle dee dee
cheery cheerio cheerup
allarm call: yeep yeep chuck chuck chuck chuk yeep yeep eep!
whinny: quick-wik wikwikwikwik or hee he he he he (decending)
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_robin/id

*Northern Flicker: Wicka, wicka, wicka
kleeeyer
wik-wik-wik
Northern Flicker (courting): squeechu-squeechu-squeechu
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker/sounds

*European Starling: wolf-whistle (breathy), rattles, whirrs Whistle. Pop. Whirrrr. Zzzt.
kizzik--like a washboard
rack rack rack zeep!
Weee errr (rising, then falling)
they also imitate red-tailed hawks, killdeer, cowbirds, jays, etc.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/sounds

 *Mourning Dove: hooo-ah hoo-hoo-hoo; chirry-chirry-chirry-choreeo
song or perch-coo: oh WOOO-oo-oo-oo
male also does a nest call:  oooo-woooo-ah (from low to high to low and owl-like)
hooLa hoop hoop hoop
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/id

*American Crow: caw-caw-caw-caw-koodle-yah; koodle-yah (trilly voice)
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Crow/id

Mallard: quack quack quack
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mallard/id

*Red-tailed Hawk: Keeeeeer
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/sounds

*Pacific Loon: coo coo (soft and slow) Koo Koo Ullie Koo Koo Ullie (Koo Koo Oo LEE) kwa-wee! Haw, kloo-eee!
yoodle oodle ooo
awww awwww, coocoolooLEE coocoolooLEE,
(described as a yodel)
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pacific_Loon/sounds

*Raven: cruk (harsh, raspy); tawk (metallic) quark quark quark
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Raven/sounds

*Barred Owl: Who cooks for you, who cooks for you'all
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/sounds

*Great Horned Owl: Are you awake? me too; scree, scree
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Horned_Owl/id

*Trumpeter Swan: sound of wings-swish; truggle, truggle
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Trumpeter_Swan/id

Canada Goose: honk; honk; honk
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Canada_Goose/id 

California quail (CAQU)
 "Chi - ca - go!"
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Quail/id


American Bittern: Oonk-a-lunk
oong ka choonk
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Bittern/id

Sources:

Bird Song: Identification Made Easy by Ernie Jardine

The Unabashed Guide to Selected Oregon and Washington Bird Songs and Calls
(References to “eastside” and “westside” refer to east and west of the Cascade crest)
Compiled by Kelly A. Bettinger with input from many fellow birders 
This is a work in progress, please contact me with any additions or suggestions!! 
e-mail:  kellybettinger@bellsouth.net, May 2004 version
http://fsc.fernbank.edu/Birding/mnemonics.htm

http://www.birdjam.com/birdsong.php?id=14

The Music of Wild Birdsong  F Schuyler Mathews

Starlings and the Shakespeare Connection

European starlings were introduced to North America in New York. The American Acclimatization Society(!?) decided all the birds mentioned in the works of Shakespeare should live here. After 125 birds were introduced in 1890-91, they became what is now an invasive or borderline invasive species. A relative of the starling, the Crested Myna was brought to Vancouver by early Chinese migrant workers. At one time, people worried they would grow to troublesome numbers, but apparently the starlings took advantage of the skittish parenting skills of the mynahs and had the habit of taking over their nests.
I have just finished the book (The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik) that inspired the movie The Big Year, and the author describes the main character huddling under an underpass in Vancouver looking for the Crested Myna. Sure enough, there's still at least a couple around! Or there was. According to the Birding in British Columbia website "The last two Crested Mynas in Vancouver, BC are thought to have died mid February 2003 marking the end of an era."
And now back to Shakespeare--Here's a paragraph from an article in Scientific American by Steve Mirsky about the Shakespeare's reference to starlings:

The other starting point lies much deeper in the mists of time. In the late 1590s Shakespeare noted the mimicking ability of the starling while writing Henry IV, Part 1. Hotspur is contemplating driving King Henry nuts by having a starling repeat the name of Hotspur’s brother-in-law Mortimer, whom Henry refuses to ransom out of prisoner status. “Nay, I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but ‘Mortimer,’ ” Hotspur whines. (In theater and life, in-laws can often be counted on for dramatic conflict.) Whirrrr.

So if you hear the name "Mortimer"  repeated incessantly throughout my Starling Cloud Choir musical score--now you know why!