After making arrangements with a friend of mine in the park, I met up with Joel 
Martin on Friday evening to look for the Chuck-will's-widows at Soldier's 
Delight. Unfortunately, we did not hear any definites-- however, we had some 
interesting calls from nightjars that we couldn't distinguish if they were chucks 
or whips. There were at times some repeated two note songs that almost 
seemed to be just the "WIDOW" part, and in another instance a repeated 
single note that sounded a lot like the "CHUCK" part. It was hard to definitively 
say if these were chucks because there was some very interesting variation in 
the Whip-poor-wills songs that night, and at one point, a tremendous chorus 
of whips singing. They appear to play off of one another, and vary their songs 
based on what the others are singing in an attempt to be different. I estimate 
we had in total about 12 whips during the night.

I do know that someone visited Soldier's in the middle of the week and did 
have luck with the Chucks, in case there are others interested in this bird. Be 
advised that the park closes at dusk, and parking becomes at your own risk 
with repect to the local law enforcement.

David C. Smith
dcs_wamphywi AT yahoo.com