American Woodcock in March Snow
I was delighted to find this American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) feeding in the exposed leaf litter and mud thanks to the warm, flowing spring and expansive wetlands in my yard today after about six more inches of snow fell yesterday and early this morning. Note the muddy end of this shorebird’s bill showing it had been busy foraging throughout the day in this video… …and the photos below: This well-known spring species dances on the ground while foraging and in the sky while courting every March, though this year the displays may be a little later than usual. The sun is so...
Read MoreHidden American Woodcocks
March is the month for the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) as the species heads north to (hopefully) unfrozen earth, with males arriving as quickly as they can to set up on the best territory for their legendary display flights. This year’s polar lock on the region may slow them down as feeding will be very difficult, if not impossible, for another week or two at least. Open fields and meadows adjacent to wetlands, marshes and scrubby/shrubby lands are good places to wait for their evening aerial dances later in the month. I photographed these two birds in the early winter, long...
Read MoreThe unique American Woodcock
American Woodcocks (Scolopax minor) are so very unique. They are shorebirds that live in the forest, foraging in the leaf litter, or old fields. They take flight in astoundingly graceful courtship displays each year around this date on the calendar when the evenings begin to warm up. As you can see in both this photo and the subsequent videos they have tremendously evolved features such as that enormous eye that seems like it can spot you at 360 degrees at all times and a body pattern that makes them almost invisible to our eyes, even up close. You may have already seen this video we posted...
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