damn... it just dawned on me what the noise must be. bats. They are so loud and constant. I don't think I can go to sleep now. Maybe ever again...

ya ya... reduce the mosquito population... I just got some OFF on sale. I would rather have the mosquitos. THese noises are intense.

Not a porcupine; I checked that on U tube.
I don't think it is any of the owls.
Now I'm curious: I'm going to listen to racoons and the larger cats. No racoon I've met sounds like that. They sound like crying babies. For years when I was small I thought someone outside (in the middle of night) had a crying baby. It was racoons in heat. Opossom don't make a noise, do they?

I bet the Audubon Society would know, though I'd be surprised if they would watch U Tube for you.

mt
Marie

humm....bats? I have no reason to say no, but somehow I doubt it. If you just google the name of any night animal (or mammal if you include bats) "racoon noises" it is all there on You Tube.

Without listening to yours a second time, I wondered if it is "racoon complaint" noise

Now I'm going to listen to a bat noise.
mt

http://www.crittercontrol.com/facts/critteraudio/crittersounds/

didn't listen to any more, but the fox reminded me of yours...
Bats came across as I remembered.. more of chittering. I don't think they have the vocal cords for the loud sound you're hearing.

Sleep well.

Try listening to 'fisher cat'
Keep your kitties indoors if a fisher is around. It's pretty exciting...they're very secretive and there aren't many around any more.

that critter control site is good. none of them sound quite like my guy though. fox is close. (had to send my dog outside... the noises got her quite excited!!)

I was also wondering if the clicking that my camera picked up was actually a bat noise that humans can't hear. I thought it was me making noises holding the camera.

The other thing that made it seem like bats is that the noise appeared to be traveling in a circle, closer and further and it seemed higher up than ground level.

It sounds like an owl screeching. The sound goes up in pitch at the end and it sounds the same every time like a bird. An owl is also consistent with nighttime activity and your description of the noise moving around and being higher than ground level.

I think tree's got it! Its certainly not the traditional hoo-hoo owl sound, but when I searched for screeching owl, there were several hits and related hits that definitely do sound like what I heard.

Thanks. I think I can sleep now. Much better than huge bats.

Does not sound like a fisher cat. They scream like a loud human in mortal danger. I almost called the police the first time I heard one. There is no mistaking that sound--blood-curdling.

Could the rat-tat-tatting be a woodpecker? Are they active at night?

It could be several night creatures, not just one species.

It's Bigfoot, of course.

:)
Dee

Not a Screech Owl. Those have a different call. Maybe a Barn Owl?

Here is a link that might be useful: Barn Owl

yes definitely barn owl. When I searched for screeching owl on Youtube, it was barn owls that were the hits. I didn't know there was a 'Screech Owl' too.

That cornell audio is exactly it. Much better recording than mine. My volume was up when I listened to their recording and it almost blew me away!!! They have the hiss and the call. I only heard the call.

What an incredible noise. I am so glad it is an owl and not bats - whew!

I wonder why now and not in the past 19 years here. I guess they move around.

I would have to respectfully disagree and say that what I believe you have is exactly what I've been hearing for the past hour in my nighttime Western New York woods - the "contact call" of a female spotted owl (Strix occidentalis). The following link will take you to a page that has this call (you will have to scroll down quite a ways - make sure you select the correct owl!).

http://www.owlpages.com/sounds.php?page=3

You can imagine how glad I was to come across your youtube recording and hear the same thing! That "strained whine" followed by the upward inflection at the end is unmistakable. I never heard one before tonight, and was searching small mammals until some of the other replies suggested it might be an owl. If anyone finds a better match, let us know!

Well, I now see that spotted owls are found only in western North America, so the search continues...

Check this out: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barred_Owl/sounds scroll done to "Fledgling Begging call". I believe it's a Barred owl! We've been hearing the typical adult Barred owl sounds for months now, but only recently heard this juvenile sound, very close to our house. I'd never noticed it before, so I was playing the sound linked above last night, comparing it to the very similar-sounding Barn owl sounds on the same website. Then I realized I heard a louder, live one: one of the owls landed on our deck, and was answering! :) I just checked the "owl pages" link above, and there's a recording of a juvenile Barred owl there, as well as a similar sound of flying Owls. Barred owls are very common throughout the U.S. They make some amazing and entertaining sounds!

janetg988, you have it exactly right, and what a great story! Subsequent to my original and ill-informed comment, I've had the good fortune to photograph and record the owl in my woods and the sound and markings are just as found in your link to the Cornell website. I had checked their pages but somehow missed the key recording. I've heard the adults over the years making their "who cooks for you" and "cackling" calls and, although the adults have been very quiet this year, I've now been rewarded with the first juvenile, who came by almost every day (morning, evening, and night) for about two weeks. At one point it even joined on a branch with a second barred owl with a rodent in its mouth, perhaps the mother. Thanks again!

merkelga, thanks for your comments! How amazing that four years after this original post, you in Western NY, and I in Minnesota, heard that same previously unheard owl sound within days of each other! Those original posts were the same time of the year, though... It must be THE time of the year that babies become a bit more independent, yet still call for their mother (and father?) The Cornell Bird site has a live camera on some Barn owls, which I was watching earlier this month. Right now only one owl is in the nesting box, but there were more before.

http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/42/Barn_Owls/#_ga=1.204917079.6720657.1436669248

I'm glad you've been able to see your owls there, even two together! I haven't heard or seen the ones here since a few days after my post. But to me, that's the fun and exciting thing about observing God's creation: you never know what you'll see, and when, and where, so it's a bit of a mystery and a pleasant surprise! Happy Summer :)

Awww, I miss my owls. I was the OP 4 years ago and have since moved from that house. It was hard enough missing my gardens, but now I realize I miss the night sounds too. Nice to reminisce here though.

Do Barn owls actually live in barns? I don't think there were any barns in my vicinity. Actually there was a big forest tear down and a new housing development was put up a few miles away from my woods. I think that maybe correlated to me hearing more owl sounds (as well as deer and fisher cats and ...)

What bother me was the cracking and creaking sound of a falling tree we often hear at night when we camp at forest (jungle).

I am from northeast India, where most of us depends on jhum cultivation. When we clear the forest by cutting down the trees (never use any kind of machine, rather we use machete), the trees make squeaking, creaking, cracking sound. We usually spend the night untill the work is completed. This squeaking, cracking, creaking sound is what we always hear at night where no one is working out there.

We surely know that any nocturnal animals found in this region were not making this strange noise.

We called it 'ghost cultivation'. I never found any topic on this strange noise on internet. Can anyone figure it out?

(Unfortunately, there is no recording of such sound)