Jsmith

I got there about 7pm and caught the park keeper, Charley, in the parking lot. I asked him if I could stay for a while after dark- for woodcock -he told me I needed to be out by the time he closed the door at 8. I wanted to see the birds tonight b/c the winds were supposed to be much calmer than tomorrow

I walked onto the prairie and took some photos- last years seeds, a few branchy oaks- and walked back to the truck to check on the time. 7:22
I walked back slowly- a single deer snorted and skipped up the blackened part of the park. The sun became lower and all of the sudden the park was wildly alive! Some small ducks flew over in groups of 3 to 6. The lack of wind allowed me to hear their wings swish through the cool sky and they let loose a series of quiet whistles. An army of Chorus frogs let loose in the stream below the prairie.
"Eeent"- a coarse, nasal call. And again - just a few seconds later.
It was a timberdoodle! A bogsucker! A woodcock!- A bird whose looks are as ridiculous as it's names. They are like a small, round, nocturnal snipe. My mother chooses to compare them to a basset hound.
I waited a minute and watched one rocket into the air in the far distance- somewhere behind Saeger Woods. Again I heard the cry.
I tried to locate it using the next few- no success. The "Eeent' stopped and suddenly the bird exploded into whistles and a random vertical flight. His silhouette caught my attention above the black treeline immediately after the call started- about 100 ft to the right of where I expected him to be. He came from the edge of the woods- as most of the birds did tonight.
I couldn't believe how high he got. Maybe a few hundred feet before he stopped his crazy whistles and dropped like a brick. He fell much faster than he had gone up and I couldn't believe he avoided splatting into the ground when he averted his decent about 10ft above the ground. At this point he had started to whistle again and flew in a circle around me before he dropped to the ground about where he had started. The frogs continued and within a few seconds his raspy voice sounded again.

Eeeent!


Eeeent!

A few other birds started up at about 7:45 and I started back. I stirred up a deer under the power lines. On my way out I spotted a few others. On my way down the driveway I spotted one near the gate. He landed in the middle of the driveway and perked his awkward little head up so that his eyes glew in my headlights. Just as soon as he landed he took off again. The chorus frogs filled the pond on the side of the road on my way out. I considered stopping to photo them, decided that I wouldn't risk an encounter with the law or an angry neighbor tonight.

Does anyone know where/how I could find mole Salamanders this month? Ive heard at night in the rain in ephemeral pools.