Night Sounds

I just came in from taking down my bird feeders, after first spending 10 minutes trying to scare the coons out of my yard.  By the way, these are the two coons living in my attic that I just paid $500 for critter control to trap and relocate.  They obviously aren’t drawn to the Cheeto-baited trap sitting right outside the big hole they dug into my 2nd floor attic.   But as soon as the urge passed to chunk big rocks at ‘em, I spent a good while outside listening to the night sounds.  An Eastern Screech Owl trilled repeatedly at the edge of the woods, frogs peeped and an unidentified shorebird called several times overhead – single calls notes high above in the dark.

The species was unknown to me, but it makes me aware that something mysterious and special is happening right over our heads as we sit inside watching late night TV.   Now is the time of continent-wide movements of innumerable birds, the reverse cycle of migration south to winter homes.  Millions of songbirds, hawks, cranes and shorebirds are making incredible journeys, often calling to each other in similar simple notes – encouragement would be too anthropomorphic, but to properly label them as contact call sounds sterile. 

There is no one best time of the year to get outside and open up your ears.  If you can, pick a quieter time of night, after the traffic and city noises have lessened.  Let your eyes adjust to the darkness, pull up a lawn chair and just sit -  look at the stars, watch the moon rise and listen to the night sounds.   You may not be able to identify the sounds  you’re listening to, but that’s what makes the mystery.