I know we love our wildlife but this Whip-Poor-Will bird is now being referred to by us as a car alarm. You know how car alarms go off and then go on forever, well that is what this birds does. Whip-Poor-will, whip-poor-will all night long. Bless!
Last night we also had a frog outside and Chris got these pics of him. We think it is a grey tree frog, but stand to be corrected if anyone else knows better.
The killdeer is still out the front, so hopefully we will have more babies this year. We also have lots of robins so again we are hoping they nest nearby or even under the deck like last year. The lone young deer keeps popping up in the garden every now and again. He looks so lost and nervous. I suspect his mother has kicked him out so she can have this years youngster to herself.
Last night we were watching TV and could hear a strange noise from outside. We went out onto the deck and could hear a strange call coming out from the wooded area round our house. It was extremely loud and very unusual, so much so I recored the sound so that I could try to find out what it was.
At first we thought it might be a frog or toad as we have lots of them about, but after sitting at the computer for a while listening to examples of toad calls across Ontario it became apparent we either had a very rare one or it was not a toad. Next I looked for birds, but as it was late at night and very dark we could not see the bird, so only had the sound to go by.
More time on the internet came up with nothing, then I had a brainwave and searched for nocturnal birds in Ontario. One of the first I found was something called the Whip-Poor-Will and when I found an example of its call, that was it. So, we have a Whip-poor-Will nearby. Apparently they are nocturnal and eat insects and moths on the wing. They nest on the ground in woodland, so hopefully we have a pair and will continue to hear this strange bird call which sounds just like the name suggests.
If you go to this webpage you can click on the link to hear the sound – really unusual!
http://www.kwic.com/~pagodavista/schoolhouse/species/birds/wiporwil.htm
