American Woodcock (1 Viewer)

[Oregonian]

I would like to see the display flight of American Woodcock. Where could I go, say around May 25th, Memorial Day, to see them?

Of course it would be in Eastern/southern USA.

 

[sarahbn]

May is too late at least in Pennsylvania. Late March and early April are when the male American woodcocks displays. They are hard to see unless you can get close to them But you can usually hear them at dusk around an open field with some shrubs or trees nearby. We have woodcock walks at John Heinz wildlife refuge in Philadelphia in March I think the same is true for Cape May. I went on two at a local private preserve called Waterloo Mills in Radnor township just outside of Philadlphia


http://www.brandywineconservancy.org/waterlooMills.html

Taken from The Cape May bird Observatory website

WOODCOCK DANCE
Sat, Mar 07, 2009, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Each year the dance, or nuptial flight, of the male American Woodcock heralds spring. Witness this wonderful and short-lived spring phenomenon. This walk will meet at the CMBO Center for Research and Education in Goshen for materials and a brief woodcock talk and then regroup at a nearby woodcock hotspot. Preregistration required. Limit: 20.

Cost: $8 members, $15 nonmembers.