This evening at 8:30 (as I jogged home on the final leg of my long "commute" from Malaysia), I heard loud peents in the small clearing along the trail from Penny Lane to the second dam. I stood and waited, and soon could hear the fluttering skydance move around a fairly wide area before descending -- during which it could briefly be sighted -- to its stage. On the next dance I walked to the point on the trail closest to the stage, and sure enough the woodcock returned to the same spot, now probably 20 feet away. Wonderful show! Eventually I decided to leave during the peenting phase, which interrupted the peents briefly - presumably because it had not noticed my sneaking up to its stage while it fluttered about.
Suan PS. For the curious, a selection of bird photos from my 2.5 weeks in Malaysia are on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suan.yong/posts/10206575838132649 https://www.facebook.com/suan.yong/posts/10206605628877399 https://www.facebook.com/suan.yong/posts/10206622949350400 https://www.facebook.com/suan.yong/posts/10206630681703704 -- 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/ --