Sounds of the night

Led by Lamanda Hilty, Berrien County Parks Naturalist, eight hikers explored the Galien River Saturday night August 9 looking and listening for Birds of the Night. Lamanda shared some fun facts on how these birds navigate the night, their hunting strategies, and the sounds they make. She covered the local owl sounds and answered many questions about them. Lamanda expanded her talk to include insect sounds, so we learned about, and listened to, the physics of noisy night bugs. Questions included things like herp/bird sound-alikes. Lamanda also showed us some cool things out of her show-n-tell bag.

While on the overlook, Pat Fisher explained the mechanics of Great Lake Marshes, some Lake Pottawatomie history and we watched for birds on the move. Our hike included a walk on the Marsh Boardwalk out to the river. During and after twilight, Lamanda played some bird calls. In the past, Pat’s been out with Kip Miller (retired Berrien County Naturalist) at this park and had some luck talking with the night birds. No return calls tonight though. :-( 

The toads were on the move on the way back to our cars. All the hikers had a nice time. With lots of insects sounds, maybe we should have called this "Insects of the Night Hike."