Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 22:44:59 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Coleman Subject: Re: Mystery Midnight Call - Black Hills Regional Park MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Laura, I think you are hearing a Barn Owl. When my wife & I moved to western Loudoun County, VA several years back we were out walking late one night & thought we heard a woman screaming as if she was being murdered. We finally realized it was not a person but a Barn Owl. While I do not hear the sound very often I do hear it once or twice a year. Joe Coleman near Bluemont, VA 540-554-2542 or jandkcoleman@erols.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Laura Kammermeier" To: Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:54 PM Subject: [MDOSPREY] Mystery Midnight Call - Black Hills Regional Park > I hope one of you can help me identify the midnight call that my > husband and I have heard several times. > > We live on the edge of Black Hills Regional Park...on a narrow bit of > woods that has a small stream that eventually leads to the Little > Seneca Lake (if you're familiar with the area, I'm in the Gables > apartments right near the entrance to the golf park. The lake is > about 10 minute walk down the path). > > In March or April, we were first awakened to a high-pitched scream in > the middle of the night (Somewhere between 1 and 3 am). I thought it > was a woman being accosted in the woods, and had my hand on the > telephone to call police. But even though the scream was bloody and > shrill, in my view the creature didn't behave like a woman in > trouble; that is, its shrieks were short, somewhat punctuated, and > repeated; they were not long and wailing. They also didn't grow in > intensity...they were relatively even (though shrill) as they went on > for over 5 minutes. I heard it slowly moving away from me. It kept me > up all night, wondering if I had done the right thing. Though I've > been birdwatching for about a decade and done some camping, I > literally could not attribute it to any animal family I had ever > heard before. We both were baffled. But I went to bed thinking it was > teenagers horsing around. > > Somewhat to my relief, the sound happened again weeks later, then > again. Each time in the middle of the night and the same pattern: > shrill, punctuated shrieks that were relatively intense but even > over time. Though I STILL had no idea what it was, I was assured it > wasn't human at that point. > > Weeks ago, my husband was jogging at..eh-hem...5:15 am on Waters > Landing Drive while I rested gleefully at home. It was still dark, > but suddenly he heard the same loud screams and then saw a "huge > bird" fly from the Little Seneca Lake area over Waters Landing Drive > at a low level. He could see very little of the bird, but his first > impression was heron. He heard the bird again a few days later at > about the same time. > > We are sure that the sound wasn't a typical Screech Owl call....that > call is continuous and wailing rather than punctuated and repeated. > Do they have a different call? ANyway, I don't think a Screech Owl > will appear HUGE as my husband saw that morning. > > I looked in Sibley at cranes and herons and owls. The only bird I > could find that matches my call description, and does so quite well, > is Limpkin (page 156): Loud, anguished, wild-sounding scream/wail, > clear with some rattling overtones; higher pitched than cranes. > "unmistakable." Are Limpkins ever found in the park? I see some > green dots (rare occurrences) around the Chesapeake Bay. > > We just moved to Maryland in Spring but we'll be moving out of state > again in just a few weeks. It would be wonderful to solve this > mystery before we leave! > > Thanks for any and all help. > > Laura > > > > > > > > > > -- > Laura Kammermeier > Germantown, MD > > ======================================================================= > To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com > with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey > ======================================================================= > ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================