Heard the Chuck wills last night. No bullbats yet.
And my whistling ducks came home yesterday. Will pick em up a bag of corn today.
This morning all the daddy red birds were singing. And there was my home pair of Pileated woodpeckers in the bottom hollering.
Last edited by kaywoodie; 04/20/19.
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
Southeast Massachusetts, I remember the whippoorwills and Bobwhite Quail when I was a kid. Haven't heard them in 50 or so years. Maybe progress wiped out their habitat. Sad.
When I was a little boy back in the 50's I could hear them every night from my bedroom. I used to love listening to them. I haven't heard one since about 1959. Sad.
NRA Endowment Life Member (and proud of it)
Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something. - Plato
We have whippoorwills here allmost all summer, at times they are cool to listen to, when coon hunting they are a PITA,, and dont like one in the yard when the window is open because of their volume,,, they are one of the few birds Ive seen that their eyes shine in the dark when lights hit them
We have one whip-poor-will that cranks up most nights on our place. There use to be lots of them. And, yesterday I heard a quail on our place for the first time. This is the first spring I've lived here in 30 years, but Dad says the quail disappeared years ago. Maybe they are making a comeback.
As a footnote, I caught 2 foxes and 2 bobcats on our property this winter, so maybe getting rid of some of the predators will help.
Old Turd- Deplorable- Unrepentant Murderer- Domestic Violent Extremist
We have one whip-poor-will that cranks up most nights on our place. There use to be lots of them. And, yesterday I heard a quail on our place for the first time. This is the first spring I've lived here in 30 years, but Dad says the quail disappeared years ago. Maybe they are making a comeback.
As a footnote, I caught 2 foxes and 2 bobcats on our property this winter, so maybe getting rid of some of the predators will help.
No doubt that the predators do hurt the quail, but I think the biggest thing has been the loss of habitat. 50 years ago, we had plenty of Bobwhites. Most of the farms around here were diversified, and had a lot of ground that wasn't cropped, so it was allowed to become weedy and provided both food and cover for the birds. Today, most farms here are in row crops, and intensively farmed. There is no cover for the quail, and they just aren't here anymore.
We don't have whippoorwills here but we do have the very similar nighthawks. I see them often at night sitting on the ground along desert roads. In the evenings, after sun down, you can often see and hear them flying. As they dive for bugs, their wings make a whoosh like a dive bomber.
βIn a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.β β George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
We have one whip-poor-will that cranks up most nights on our place. There use to be lots of them. And, yesterday I heard a quail on our place for the first time. This is the first spring I've lived here in 30 years, but Dad says the quail disappeared years ago. Maybe they are making a comeback.
As a footnote, I caught 2 foxes and 2 bobcats on our property this winter, so maybe getting rid of some of the predators will help.
No doubt that the predators do hurt the quail, but I think the biggest thing has been the loss of habitat. 50 years ago, we had plenty of Bobwhites. Most of the farms around here were diversified, and had a lot of ground that wasn't cropped, so it was allowed to become weedy and provided both food and cover for the birds. Today, most farms here are in row crops, and intensively farmed. There is no cover for the quail, and they just aren't here anymore.
Feral cats are a YUGE problem for quail,, I love a bobwhite's call, Back when the ol timers around here kept the flying raptors trimmed back and coyotes on the endangered list we LOTS of quail,, wasnt nothing to here 12 or more stags calling all day long in the hay fields,, Granny would woop up some quail an dumplins,if you brought her 7-8 that wasnt shotgunned,,
Yβall ever heard the Rain Bird. ? Donβt know their proper name, but old folks around hear swear it means the rain is coming.
Rain Crow. Aka yellow billed Cuckoo
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
We don't have whippoorwills here but we do have the very similar nighthawks. I see them often at night sitting on the ground along desert roads. In the evenings, after sun down, you can often see and hear them flying. As they dive for bugs, their wings make a whoosh like a dive bomber.
Common Nighthawk, that dive and βwhooooshβ ainβt diving for bugs, that is the courtship/territorial display of the male. Often times if you look, heβll be diving above a female flying down below.
The really impressive thing about nighthawks to me is that somehow, with that slow and floppy style of flight, they fly clear down to Argentina to spend the winter.
"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744
My own favorite night bird call is the Poorwill. Just brings back memories of chilly dawn mornings in the desert, first glow of dawn on the horizon.....
"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744