This morning at 6:30 AM as darkness was fading I was about to go out for the
neighborhood walk with the dog when I thought I heard a Whip-poor-will call
through the open window. It was followed by a second call, but my wife was
beginning to speak right at that moment, so I wasn't absolutely certain.
This is a bird I've never heard in our neighborhood, but there is a small
patch of woods behind our house nestled in a small ravine that attracts
migrants. After listening at the window for a minute without hearing it
again, I whistled a response, and fortunately it answered back, close enough
that I could hear the cluck that precedes the rest of the call. I went
outside, but it had moved a little farther back, so I did not spot it. This
is not an early date for our area, as we have a record for Campbell County
of 3/20/79, as well as one for Bedford County on 4/2/88, the same date as
David Spears' record this month in Buckingham County.
Notable on the walk were one or two small flocks of Chipping Sparrows, newly
arrived, and a single Palm Warbler, seen in silhouette, bobbing its tail.
Gene Sattler
Lynchburg
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