Wildlife observation isn’t all about visuals. A canny naturalist also listens. Come walk with me and enjoy the sounds of a summer evening in Illinois.
Greeeeb … greeeeeb … greeeeeeeb.
Common toads have discovered deep puddles in the ditches and fields, where they can discuss their prospects for making tadpoles.
Kree-eek, kree-eek, kree-eek, kree-eek, kree-eek.
Crickets sing by scraping their wings. They have a loud calling song and a quieter courting song.
Jrrrrr, jrrrrr, jrrr-rrek!
Red-headed woodpeckers were common in our yard for a while, then disappeared for several years. This year, some of them returned …
Chee-chee-chee!
… and built a nest, high in a lightning-struck branch of a black walnut tree, now full of loudly cheeping chicks.
What are you hearing in your neck of the woods?
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach 07.10.09 at 4:49 am
So glad you asked this! I took my kids to the forest and streams yesterday, and my eldest kept talking about how the leaves were whispering to one another in the gentle breeze.
At home, of course, i hear the chirping of my 13 Twitter budgies and 2 mooses.
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Elizabeth Barrette Reply:
July 12th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Taking kids into the woods is a wonderful thing. My parents, who are teachers, always named things for me — and to this day, I have two modes on a hike: hunter-silent, and nature documentary. I’ll name everything I recognize as I see it. Some people find it annoying, but most seem to enjoy it.
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