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Old timer at the wetlands showed me a simple call for marsh wrens

I ran into this guy named Walt down at the cattail boardwalk near the south end about two weeks ago. He was making this soft clicking sound with his tongue against the back of his teeth, and suddenly three marsh wrens popped up right in front of us. He said most people try to whistle too loud and it scares them off instead. Has anyone else picked up a weird trick from a stranger like that?
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lee_reed
lee_reed1d agoTop Commenter
Oh man that is EXACTLY the kind of thing I love about running into old timers. I had a guy show me how to call wood ducks with just my thumb and a blade of grass. Took me like an hour to not sound like a dying goose but once I got it those ducks just came right in. Quiet little tricks like that are gold.
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the_amy
the_amy1d ago
I read somewhere that marsh wrens respond better to quiet clicks than any whistle...
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nora110
nora1101d ago
The guy who showed me that trick was named Jerry, he must have been like 80 years old. He taught me this whistle for yellow warblers using just my bottom lip and the back of my hand. Took me weeks to get it right but now I can call them in from like 50 feet away. @lee_reed was totally right about that blade of grass trick too, I tried it once and sounded like a wounded raccoon for half an hour before I gave up.
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