Answer found!

Wanna go on a snipe hunt? No guns or bags involved, just ears. Really!

Thanks to some local birders who listed to my own well practiced rendition of this crazy noise AND Sue who recommended a GREAT site (www.whatbird.com), we have an answer!! It wasn't the woodcock, although I have been hearing quite a few of those, as well. Whatbird.com explains that "courtship flights produce quavering hoots made by air rushing through tail feathers "huhuhuhuhuhuhu" (go listen!).

So,our yard is apparently romance central for a couple of very courtly snipe(s?). WF said this morning, as we were being surrounded by the eerie sound, "Can they just hurry up and do the deed already?" It was fully sunny, but they were still at it late into the morning. It's fairly quiet right now, but the evening will soon be here...

It's good to have a name for our not-so-alien neighbors! We also caught glimpses of them today. I'm a bit surprised that they've chosen our area, as our "wetland" is fairly ephemeral and pretty grown in. We'll wait to see (and listen) to what transpires. My "birding by ear" is slowly improving...