Teen Naturalists: Moonlight Hike on Bobolink and Centennial Trails

By Stephen Jones

On April 21st, five of us walked 2 miles under a brilliant full moon, accompanied most of the way by the soothing sounds of chorus frogs and winnowing snipes. Male snipe make their eerie "winnowing" when they dive headlong toward the ground, causing the air to vibrate through their tail feathers. Snipe winnowing is inspiration for the Plains Indians' stirring ululations.

We also saw and heard Canada Geese, Mallards, flickers, magpies, Black-capped Chickadees, nesting Barn Swallows, American Robins, House Finches, Song Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, cottontails, a flying bat, and an outburst of piercing wails and squeals from a family of coyotes right by the trail.

No owls this time, but we could feel them watching us. The air smelled like spring, with plum, wild currant, and crabapple blossoms everywhere. White iris growing along the creek shimmered in the moonlight.