Strange Call In The Night...

[Axeman]

I lay awake last night with the unusually silent din of a spring night ringing in my ears. It was about an hour after the hockey game ended. Out of the darkness peeled a haunting croak. A croak that sounded inspired by Poe, Hitchcock and King. It was made even eerier by the reverb of an empty or low lying landscape. I had images of mord wraithes scouring the countryside.

It wasn't a frog, coyote, deer or cougar calling. I figure it had to be a bird given the speed that the croaks travelled. And given the volume, I figured it had to be large, like a turkey vulture. I have never heard a turkey vulture call and I wouldn't think they'd be flying at night.

The croaks were about 20 seconds apart and gradually drifted out of earshot.

Any thoughts?

[Brian Bailey]

Maybe a night-heron?

BB

[Axeman]

Nope...not a night heron....I would call the night herons more of a squawk...and they're kinda punctuated...this was a deep croak...what else flies at night? And the herons usually fly at dusk and dawn...this was more like midnight or later even....

[Pat Hodgson]

sandhill crane makes a pretty bizarre noise

[Axeman]

It was just one animal...like I said, I'm guessing bird b/c of the way the croaks moved....would they fly at night and would you find them in Grey County? We're about 30 min. directly south of Owen Sound and one hour directly north of Guelph...is there a website that gives the sounds of a crane?

[Axeman]

I just checked this site out...

http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/anim ... crane.html

It wasn't a sh crane -- the croak was deeper and didn't have the trill...the first time I heard the croak, I thought it was a dog barking but the sound was not right so I went to window and realized quickly it wasn't a dog...

Thanks though.

[Axeman]

I just checked a couple of sites that had various types of cougar calls...maybe it wasn't a bird afterall.

There is a cougar in our area and I have in the past found its tracks on trails throughout our property (yes, I can tell difference between cougar v. dog -- we have a neapolitan mastiff and his paw size is similar but there some very obvious difference between dog and cougar eg. claws v. retracted claws, front toes side by side v. staggered and bottom pad has 3 lobes on cougar v. sort of 2 on dog....)

[cloaca]

There is a cougar in Grey County?

[Bella]

yes she hangs out at the local bars!  Sorry couldn't resist.