Barnegat Twp 6/26--Chuck-will's-widow

Tonight we drove down to Barnegat Township around the Forsythe impoundments to listen, successfully, for Chuck-will's-widows. I've always wondered why we get so many Whip-poor-wills and no Chucks around here and the answer, of course, is habitat. Whips prefer hardwood forests--plenty of that 25 feet from the house. On Saturday, talking about nightjars with Scott Barnes, he told me that Chuck-will's-widow is found around here in the marshes east of Route 9--they're more of a coastal bird. I knew from eBird there was a spot where one birder was often listing them, so just as it got dark we drove over Double Creek Bridge and pulled to the side on East Bay Avenue. We didn't have to wait long to hear two birds bellowing their eponymous calls. Scott also told me that, unlike Whips, which will call all night (don't I know it!) Chucks are crepuscular--they call for a short time on either side of sundown and then shut up, so I knew that if we didn't hear them right away, we weren't going to hear them.

Shari teased me that I only wanted the bird for my Bird A Day list but she was wrong--I wanted it for
my Bird A Day list P
my year listP

my Jersey year listP
my Ocean County year listP

and my Ocean County life list.P

And also, just for the thrill of tracking one down.P