An eastern whippoorwill (Antrostomus vociferous) perches on a tree branch in the eastern deciduous forest (Photo credit: birdsoftheworld.org).

It was dusk when I walked out to the camper. The air was cool after a late afternoon rain and the frogs called back and forth in their amphibious love fest. The bunnies froze in place as my headlamp brushed across the new mown grass, their red eyes glowing in the impending darkness. Night birds called here and there as they settled for the night. That’s when I heard her…the lone whippoorwill in the hedgerow at the end of the far field.

Sunday’s hail storm about a mile from our house.

I love the sound of a whippoorwill. It takes me back to my childhood, lying in bed beneath the tin roof at my grandma’s house. Back then, there was a pair of bobwhites on the hill across the road. One night I heard their unmistakeable call followed by the scream of a bobcat. That was the last time I ever heard a bobwhite. 

A foggy night at Marshmallow Ranch.

A whippoorwill’s call can get mighty obnoxious if they’re close to the house. I don’t know if you remember the story about the time a whippoorwill perched on top of the old TV antenna at the end of our house. We were “yard camping” and that thing would NOT stop and it wouldn’t fly back to the hedgerow where it belonged. I got up and left the camper to try to shoo it off. I got a big pot and a metal spoon and clanged away but it didn’t move an inch. It called nonstop for 45 minutes and I was about ready to pull my hair out. 

The rhododendron is blooming! It seems early to me this year.

I looked around for something else that might work. There was a ball peen hammer laying on the grill for some reason. I grabbed that thing and marched out to the antenna and gave it a sound WHACK! That bird few off and much to my dismay, I didn’t hear it again for three years. I heard it once last year in the early spring, but I’ve heard it several times this year. I don’t think I’ll ever try to scare it off again. These are God’s gifts to us and should be appreciated for their beautiful song.

The beautiful rhododendron…West Virginia’s state flower.

Especially if it’s down in the hedgerow at the end of the far field!

🐦‍⬛

“The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.” Song of Songs‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

***Gratitude Journal***   
Today I am grateful for the many songbirds who are migrating through WV at this time of year. I awoke to my very favorite bird yesterday morning…the lovely wood thrush with its crystal clear song just makes my heart sing. When I’m out at The Farm, I hear them back up the holler behind the barn and their song echos and rings like a bell choir.