Mark's post reminds me of something I'd been meaning to share. This past Tuesday (26 May) I had some free time while Laurie was at an eye doctor appointment for which I would need to drive her home. I spent the hour wandering the woods off Arrowwood Drive in the Village of Lansing between the "Convenient" Care complex and Sapsucker Woods.
In trail-less deciduous forest on a moisture-flattened floor of dead leaves marked with occasional tufts of grass, weeds, ferns, and patches of seedling trees, I flushed an AMERICAN WOODCOCK from about 5 feet away. It came up from my right, passed directly in front of me at eye level, and slowly descended about 20 yards to my left and behind me. The orange on its tail was conspicuous, its legs dangled as it flew, and it seemed awkward and floppy as it alit. Probably Woodcock always look like they have a frightened stare, given their large and somewhat rearward-facing eyes, but it certainly gave me a worried impression. This was not a bird escaping from being stepped upon by exploding underfoot and fleeing. I've had that heart-stopping experience. This was a bird trying to distract me. I began carefully walking around the area looking for a nest, a depression perhaps, some irregular formation of the leaves, or a group of eggs below a fern frond. After a couple minutes of slow luckless searching I was standing about where I started. The adult Woodcock made some movement to ensure I was aware of her, so I knew I was onto something. I had been careful with every step, circling a fairly small area, but I wasn't seeing a nest or eggs. While considering my next move, I noticed an oak leaf-sized patch a few inches in front of my right boot. Like the surrounding leaves it was bilaterally symmetrical. Its pattern of brown and tan was stronger, yet most of the edge was indistinct. Suddenly I recognized it as a flattened downy baby bird where surely I had walked. But it was too symmetrical for a crushed body. And then I was aware of a sibling in exactly the same position a couple feet to the left. Somehow I hadn't stepped on them. They were holding themselves flat. I crouched down and found I could pick up the close baby. It had a black bill about an inch long which had been extended in front of it like a petiole. The bird in my hand began to object with vague struggling and a high thin whine. This sound appeared to flip a switch in the other members of the family. As I let my captive go, it spread its feathered but useless wings and walked away, while the downy youngster on my left stood up, held out its wings and also started walking. Two previously overlooked babies to my right also stood up, spread their wings like giant mushrooms, and began walking toward where mama had returned and given a call a few yards away in denser vegetation before flying in front of me again in another attempt at distraction. Even though I could easily keep up with them, I pretended the display worked and ignored the babies as they disappeared behind logs and among weeds and seedling trees. I left the area confident that the family would quickly regroup but amazed at how much they, like other fledglings, depend on luck not to be found and eaten. --Dave Nutter On May 29, 2015, at 05:11 PM, Mark Chao <markc...@imt.org> wrote: > > The highlight was my first AMERICAN WOODCOCK in the 10-year history of the > Spring Bird Quest (SBQ). This bird flushed up from the leaf litter right > next to us, fanning a striking red tail with contrasting black and white > terminal bands. It settled again about 50 meters away. We watched it > watching us for several minutes. It was only the second woodcock I’ve ever > seen at rest by day. > -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
