There is no longer any doubt in my mind that a Groove-billed Ani has visited the oasis. I'm not positive which day, but it had to have been the 25th or 26th. I watered half one morning and half the other morning. But what really blew my mind was, already knowing that's what I saw and heard, a while ago I decided to listen to recordings of the ani calls and see if I could jog my memory further. And boy did it! I played a recording of it that I hadn't played before and I thought, wow, that sounds a little like a whippoorwill. And then it hit me! The day I heard that unfamiliar bird calling, I had thought it sounded "a little like a whippoorwill, but wasn't, and a whippoorwill wouldn't be calling loudly from the oasis in the middle of the morning," I had reasoned. I totally forgot about thinking that at the time until I played one particular recording.
So now that I know 100% for sure, I regret being so ignorant at the time. Why didn't I record the call? DUH! Bird calls have always been a weakness for me. Some people can memorize hundreds of bird calls and remember them forever after. Not me. It sure makes the oasis more special to me, if that's possible, now that I've seen and heard an ani in it. I think of it as a tropical bird, like a trogon. I'm so hoping it'll come back. I'm familiar with the species but it's been many years since I'd seen or heard one so I didn't remember what they sounded like. And that day I had long forgotten about it by the time I got to the house after watering, and could have played an ani recording. If Lee Hoy hadn't had one at his place my sighting would've been lost. It sort of is anyway since I have no documentation.
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