[wisb] Re: "Chuck" is back in Jackson County!
- From: Cathy <cmauer@xxxxxxx>
- To: calocitta8@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 22 May 2012 21:21:38 -0500
We stopped there last night (Monday) on our way home from Madison to
Medford. We arrived just after 8:00 p.m. and first heard Whip-poor-wills
about 8:30 or so. At about 8:45 we heard the Chuck-will's-widow quite
far to the northwest. About 9:00 a Whip-poor-will started calling almost
overhead on the south side of the road, followed shortly thereafter by
the Chuck-will's-widow very close to us on the north side of the road.
The latter moved among several trees. Then, while it was still light
enough to see silhouettes, we saw two nightjars, one chasing or
following the other, fly from the north side of the road to the south,
circle around a tree, and disappear. This flight was accompanied by what
I think was wing-clapping. There appeared to be a noticeable size
difference between the two birds, and, since I cannot find any
indication in field guides or on the internet that there is a size
difference based on gender, I suspect one bird was the
Chuck-will's-widow and the other was a Whip-poor-will. We stayed about
another five minutes or so but did not hear either again.
FYI, there were almost no mosquitoes, unlike previous years when I've
been there. Not to say there won't be.
Cathy Mauer
near Medford, Taylor County
On 5/22/2012 9:50 AM, Jesse Ellis wrote:
> Last night on my drive home from the Cities, I detoured over to try to hear
> Charles the Third (I presume). Around 11:15 after a nice encounter with a
> Porcupine on Kirch Rd, I drove a little west past the prison (in retrospect
> probably not enough). I had two Whippoorwills blasting away, and thought
> maybe he wasn't around, but it turned out he probably shut up because I
> stopped right next to him. He started up and serenaded me for 5-10 minutes,
> but I couldn't stay longer.
> I stopped the car a few times on the way back to HIghway 54 to listen, and
> had at least 2 whippoorwills at each stop. Seems like really interesting
> habitat (at least in the dark).
>
> A nice lifer, even if I couldn't stay longer. Never would have expected
> that for Wisconsin prior to moving here.
>
> Jesse Ellis
> Madison, WI
>
>
> On Sat, May 12, 2012 at 9:00 AM, Peter Fissel<pfissel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>> In my lack-of-sleep-stupor, I neglected to post this Thursday evening.
>> Jim Otto called me Thursday morning (while I was on the WSO trip) and said
>> he'd gone up to Bartos/Staffon Rd. Wednesday, where, for the ninth year in
>> a row, there was a Chuck-wills-widow just west of the prison a few miles
>> east of Black River Falls and a mile north of Hwy 54. (I was riding
>> shotgun with Daryl Tessen, who correctly guessed who I was talking to, and
>> what we were discussing...)
>>
>> Jim said the bird started calling shortly after 8:30 p.m., and he even saw
>> it fly once, since it wasn't fully dark yet. We are strongly suspecting
>> that this is offspring of the "original" bird - Daryl pointed out that most
>> previous reports from other locations have lasted for three consecutive
>> years at most, and Bill Brooks was sure he'd seen a pair of birds there
>> several years ago.
>>
>> Anyone going up there for the first time should keep in mind that you're
>> very close to prison property, so don't park near the intersection with
>> Kirch Rd. Park well down the road to the west (at least a couple hundred
>> yards. You'll easily hear the "Chuck" calling - it's loud.) The prison
>> personnel may still come to check on you, although I think they're used to
>> this by now. Just don't go wandering off into the woods to the north -
>> stay on the road.
>>
>> Peter Fissel
>> Madison WI
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>>
>
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