One of the few birds I can reasonably imitate is the whip-poor-willl. I heard that bird on early summer nights when I was growing up. The calls seemed to be coming from what we then called the Upper Road, now on the maps as Station Street. When I heard it in the Forties and Fifties, the Upper Road was dirt, and most of the residents of Towamensing Township were farmers.
The latest issue of the Pennsylvania Game News featured an article entitled “Where Went the Whip-poor-will?” The Pennsylvania Game Commission has partnered with the College of William and Mary and the Virginia Commonwealth University to survey the whip-poor-will and find out why it is in decline. It is in decline. It is now considered a “vulnerable” species.
I just realized that our grandson, who is spending two weeks with us, may never hear that lonesome call. My imitation of that call will in no way match the experience of the actual bird calling at twilight.
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