Date: 6/13/25 9:12 am From: Gyekis, Joseph Peter <jpg186...> Subject: whip survey
Hi Everyone,
I've been doing these Nightjar Survey Network point counts in spring or early summer moonlit nights for a few years now along the Allegheny Front on Underwood Road and Strawband Beaver Road, with many stops along the edge of regrowing clear cuts.
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It's hard to get up there in perfect conditions with minimal clouds and wind, no precipitation, when the moon is close to full. Most of the time the counts are a little bit subpar conditions—like the 11th was a little windier than desired but still decent. The 10 stops require 6 minutes count time at each spot plus a few minutes to drive between them, so with how short nights are this time of year, it always cuts into a little sleep. But it's fun when it works out because the whip poor wills are plentiful up there.
It makes sense that it's also an area where moths are abundant along the roads while driving. I've seen a luna moth and a couple other big moths (maybe Imperial I think), plus great numbers of mid sized and small moths.
The total number of birds of all species are in the middle of this table, with the survey dates and times on the rows/columns:
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Unsurprisingly, doing a count in the morning gets a lot of dawn chorus starting up long before sunrise, hence the big totals.
The species breakdown totaled across all 6 years of effort are here:
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Especially at the first two stops, the biggest challenge for counting the distant whips is how loud the up close ones are.
The mammals are also fun, I usually hear some flying squirrels, hear coyotes about half the outings, and see some porcupines on the road.
When counting in late May, I usually hear some nocturnal flight calls too, especially thrushes and cuckoos.
Anyone in State College wishing to enjoy an impressive chorus of many whip poor wills should walk the scrub oak/pitch pine scrub areas along Scotia Range Road at dawn or dusk. That area the density is even more spectacular than the Underwood clear cuts, and quicker to drive to for most of us.
