I once heard a fox making a loud, strange screeching/hissing noise =
outside
my patio one night. Thinking it was same type of owl, I slipped out =
onto my
patio in the dark and turned on my flashlight into the woods, only to =
find a
red fox confronting two cats from my apartment complex. The fox's
screeching was rather human-like (which also seemed to scare the cats, =
since
they retreated).
Dan McGlinchey
Alexandria-Kingstowne, VA
-----Original Message-----
From: va-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:va-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] =
On
Behalf Of john messina
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2004 9:34 AM
To: Va Bird List
Subject: [va-bird] Woodcocks at Huntley
Saturday night at Huntley Meadows in Fairfax County, my husband, John,
and I heard woodcocks "peenting" and doing aerial displays. We first
heard them calling and displaying very close to the west side of the
viewing platform overlooking the water on the "back-end" trail. The
peenting bird(s) then moved toward the usual woodcock viewing spot in
the field to the west about 100 yards down the trail. However, at that
field we witnessed only a few single "peents" at widely spaced intervals
and no displays of any kind. The water levels are way down at Huntley
since the collapse of the beaver, and the former marshland surrounding
the back-end viewing platform is completely dry. I suspect that is why
the woodcocks are now more likely to display there than farther down the
trail.
While we stood on the viewing platform, we heard eerie screams coming
from the east. When we heard the first two screams, we worried that a
woman was being attacked in the woods. However, the identical sound was
repeated consistently as the creature making it kept moving further
east, so we soon assumed this was not caused by a human being. The
screams did not sound like any bird calls I'm aware of, and I'm
wondering if they were made by a bobcat or fox. Any thoughts?
Cathy Messina
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