Tuesday March 28th - Sounds in the Night at Irwin Prairie

 

Tuesday March 28th – Sounds in the Night at Irwin Prairie

          Today was a nice sunny Spring day with temperatures hovering around 50 degrees in the afternoon.  After finishing dinner and cleaning up, I convinced Mike to go to Irwin Prairie at dusk to look for snipe and woodcocks.  We arrived about 8:00pm and started walking out on the boardwalk and were greeted with a loud chorus of spring peepers.

          Spring Peepers are tiny frogs only an inch long and their sleigh bell-like sound is a harbinger of Spring.  The male peepers begin calling to find a mate.  The stretchy vocal sack under their chin produces the sound.  Scientists believe that the females listen to the speed of the calls.  A faster call probably comes from an older larger male.  The female gives the male a little nudge to let him know he has been chosen.  Below is a recording of the Spring Peepers.  Click on the link below to hear their sound.

https://youtu.be/lXfmubmx-qw

          We walked further out into the wet prairie and waited to hear a snipe or a woodcock.  As night was falling the Wilson’s Snipe finally started winnowing.  Air rushing over the snipe’s outspread tail feathers creates the hu-hu-hu winnowing sound.  The sound is usually produced as the birds dive.  Males perform the winnowing flight to defend territory and attract mates.  Click on the link below to hear their sound.

https://youtu.be/damhttps://youtu.be/FsIygCtoqYg0sDp6Xig   

As we turned on the phone flashlight and started walking back, we heard the buzzy peent of the American Woodcock.  The woodcock’s display flight is a special sight of springtime.  He gives peent calls from the ground, then flies upward in a wide spiral.  As he gets higher, his wings start to twitter.  At a height of 250-300 feet, the bird starts to descend.  He zigzags down, chirping as he goes, then lands silently near a female.  Once on the ground, he resumes peenting, and the display starts all over again.  Click on the link below to hear their sound.

https://youtu.be/P1g4ZX6crwM

Finally, as we neared the car in the dark, we heard a Great-horned Owl calling in the distance.  It was a special evening to hear these sounds of Springtime.  Listen to the Great-horned Owl call below.

https://youtu.be/FsIygCtoqYg

We we first arrived Mike did get a nice photo of a pair of Sandhill Cranes.

                                                    Sandhill Cranes


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