Sophie asked: "What farmland birds would I be able to hear at night?"
Sophie, this is a very interesting question, obviously during the night most people only associate Owls with being active, that is very much correct and around farmland you would expect to hear the repeated shriek of the Barn Owl, the "kee-ew" of the Little Owl or maybe even the traditional hooting of the Tawny Owl which will reside in woodland edge around farmland.
Many of the Corvids including Crows, Rooks and Jackdaws that communally roost arrive very late into the roost when it is almost dark and wake very early, during the night they will also become vocal at various moments, as they roost in large groups they can spend the night vocalising, moving around and if disturbed or worried by a predator or other factor this could also cause them to vocalize.
Smaller songbirds are also known to be heard at night, the Nightingale is the most obvious bird, it resides in wooded areas but also drier habitats and so could be found close to farmland. The Nightingale song is well known for both being incredibly tuneful and melodic and can often be heard at night in an attempt by males to attract a mate. Other songbirds have been known to sing at night, Robins, Blackbirds and Song Thrushes in particular, they are all early breeders concerned with defending a territory so will even do this during the evening.
Woodcocks are also nocturnal, they reside in woodland during the day where they hunker down to take cover but dusk and dawn they will come out to rides and fields to feed and during the Spring they "rode" at night which involves birds flying around in display hoping to attract a mate, this can also include croaking calls similar to a frog.
Finally, the upland farmland areas are also busy at night with various upland wading birds. Snipe, Redshank, Curlew, Lapwing and Black Grouse will all be either active feeding at night or will begin their Spring courtship displays very early in the morning, it can still be dark but the air can be full of the calls of these various birds, this is the peak time for them to display and often by the time the sun has risen this activity has dropped.
What kind of bird might follow a human who is walking late at night? It cawed like a crow and it happened on multiple nights…A friend who walked with me was so unsettled, he talks of it 20yrs later. We walked a half mile, and it followed from start to finish. We even walked into our apt building and it continued outside…We live in the Midwest. I do remember it being cold out. Was it a crow? Everyone talked of it being an omen, but I’ve always wondered about it’s proper reason. Thank you.
It could have been a hand reared then released/escaped bird, that was used to human interaction. as to a species, I imagine anything that was hoping for a feed/ human company would fit the bill. Highly unlikely to be an omen :o)
adrienne7 said:What kind of bird might follow a human who is walking late at night? It cawed like a crow and it happened on multiple nights…A friend who walked with me was so unsettled, he talks of it 20yrs later. We walked a half mile, and it followed from start to finish. We even walked into our apt building and it continued outside…We live in the Midwest. I do remember it being cold out. Was it a crow? Everyone talked of it being an omen, but I’ve always wondered about it’s proper reason. Thank you.
I agree with PimperneBloke's response, it's unlikely to be an omen.
What first drew my attention to your post adrienne7 was the time of day, and I note in your text, you say you're from the Midwest. Do we take that to mean the Midwest in the USA?
This forum is UK based and most posting here are from the UK, as is the RSPB.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler