One of the birds which continues to come up on my eBird alerts is the Eastern Whip-poor-will. The last few years, the species has been reported at one of the campgrounds of the Sheyenne National Grasslands. Hoping to hear the Whip-poor-will's iconic song, I packed up and headed over to the grasslands yesterday afternoon. I arrived at the Jorgen's Hollow campground around four o'clock and got my tent ready for the night before heading out onto the nearby Oak Loop Trail.
It was pretty glorious goings in the beginning--temperature in the seventies, a nice mix of blue sky and light clouds, plus a gentle breeze. As I left the lightly wooded first part of the trail, the breeze stepped up to a good and steady wind. Nothing too crazy but enough to make it harder hearing and seeing birds in the wavy grasses and swinging branches. I still was able to spot my first Great Crested Flycatcher and Field and Lark Sparrows for 2024 while hearing my first Grasshopper Sparrows among other birds.
Near the end of the trail, I came upon a bunch of these critters.
The loop put me back near the campgrounds where I filled myself on granola and junkfood and re-read some of Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49. Daylight began to fizzle out, and after going to the bathroom I grabbed my camera to snap a few shots of the campgrounds area and my favorite form of pest control: the Common Nighthawk!
With easily accessible camping sites, I've learned you're at the mercy of your neighbors. Most of them were great last night. The car-campers in the two spots beside me hardly existed for all I could tell. But it only takes one bad neighbor to make the night long, and I was getting pretty worried when quiet hours rolled around and I was still hearing the country music and conversation over the steady chugging of a diesel generator from the campsite furthest from mine . . . I was relieved when they did quiet down not much later, but the night would still be long. The main factor was the rain which swept in sometime after midnight, coming down quite heavy and quite loud on the rain cover of my tent. I maybe got a few hours of sleep in the early morning, but waking up throughout the night allowed me to hear a singing Sora and a chorus of coyotes. No Whip-poor-wills, unfortunately.
After what sleep I did get, I was out of my tent with sunrise and back on the Oak Loop Trail.
I walked about a quarter of the loop before stopping to get my eyes on the Grasshopper Sparrows, and once I did that, I turned back and headed for camp to pack up and hit the road. Even though I didn't get my ears on the Whip-poor-wills I was hoping to, I'm glad that I went out for the night. Hearing the booming wings of the Nighthawks and the yowling coyotes was really cool, and I know it will be that much more rewarding when I do get to experience the Whip-poor-wills' song!
