What do you hear?

I got in at about 2:30 this morning from a trip to Laredo and Wichita Falls. The usually quiet truck yard was alive with singing. I figured it was just from the lights being on. Then I came home, sat down at the computer, and again, I heard all kinds of fancy singing outside.

It's spring, and the Southern Mockingbirds are letting us know about it!

They sing in the dark? How cool! All I hear is bull frogs and an occassional owl. Oh and a fox now and then and raccoons.

I guess it's kind of loud here!

During the nesting season, they do. And if you've ever heard one, you won't mistake it for anything else.

Hmm...interesting. We have mockingbirds and they must have a nest near my house, but I haven't heard them singing at night. They aren't happy when I sit outside, though, so they probably won't sing about it. I usually just hear crickets and the neighbors' dogs.

When I first read your title, I imagined that I was in Austria again in a town where I kept hearing music and it wasn't from the Sound of Music. Really, from my hotel window, from restaurants, not to mention just walking. In fact, it seemed to be the same music I grew up with on this album that was German Beer Drinking Songs, like my favorite, " Du Kannst nicht treu sein" (you cannot be true). It turns out that the resort town where we were staying (off season) piped the music out and inside. So, I wasn't crazy. Well, at least I wasn't hearing things.

As for the mockingbirds, they will sing for a mate at early hours. You could actually teach one to sing if you got close enough for long enough. The males won't stop until the mating season is over. Have fun listening to their wonderful songs! They possess nature's gift. They don't have to pipe music in like we do.

There's only a couple mockingbirds around here and they're actually fairly quite - or maybe it's just that they're in someone elses tree. It's the robins that start up around 5 am that are a bit ridiculous. There's one that likes to sit right outside my bedroom window in the maple tree... Then later in the morning and in the evening he and a couple others hunt my yard for insects (I don't spray my yard) and complain every time they miss. It drives the cats nuts.

How wonderful. At night where I live, if I sit on my back porch I hear bullfrogs at the pond.

I usually hear the foxes in the trees at the back of the house in the early hours. Usually it's in the summer when the window is open on the security lock.

A few nights ago, I actually heard an owl!

The mockingbird is interesting bird. When we were in the south we saw them. Here they are consider a rare bird. The mockingbird story involved feeders that several species of birds fought over. The mockingbird lost the battle. One day I heard a hawk call, gave the binoculars and rushed outside. to my surprise there set a mockingbird alone with all the feeders. No hawk around. The mockingbird had learned the hawk's cal and it got him to the feeders.