Chota with the boys

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Whip-or-wills on Mother’s Day

“I was reading Natural Histories by Stephen Lyn Bales. And as good timing would have it, I read the chapter on Whip-or-wills on Mother’s Day in May. The story of the Cherokee Chief Oconastota was weaved into this chapter, and the place of his burial happens to be the best place in our area to hear Whip-or-wills. I was very moved by the whole chapter, and the exquisite way the author connected our history to this elusive bird. I made an impromptu decision and said to my two sons, “Let’s get in the car boys, we’re going to Chota.”

“At an hour before sunset, we headed down the trail to Chota monument. Just like the author described, we saw Orchard Orioles and Indigo Buntings as we walked. Once there, we visited the grave of Oconastota, and my boys thought it fitting to put some stones and wildflowers on his grave marker. In the center of the pillar monument was a rectangular stone slab with
a bathtub-shaped indentation. The three of us lay down in the center of the stone slab and felt the warmth of the sun still in the rock. Each boy was cradled in each arm, and we looked up at the sky and waited for the first Chuck-wills-widows to start their songs. The light faded to nothing; the Chucks were whistling their songs, and the 6-year-old boy was getting spooked by the Indian Spirits he was sure he was seeing. Then we heard the Whip-or-will. I stood by the waters edge, and cupped one hand at an ear towards the Chucks, and cupped the other ear towards the Whips, and stood in sheer joy to hear both birds at once, in such
a beautiful, sacred place.

“On the way out of the parking lot, I saw eye-shine in the road. I knew it was one of our singers, a Chuck or a Whip, which one I will never know, but a first sighting for me either way. I slowly
drove closer, and the bird flew low over the car before disappearing in the dark. I was so happy to see the bird, and so happy to end the day so beautifully. My boys will always remember how a
bird can thrill their mother.

“And from now on, I will go to Chota at sunset on Mother’s Day, hopefully with my sons. A wonderful book spawned a wonderful new tradition for a nature-loving mother and her two precious boys.”

- By Janet Lee McKnight



Respectfully reprinted from the June 2010 issue of “through the BiKNOXulars,” the newsletter for the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society.

Natural Histories published by UT Press.

Thanks, Janet.

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