If you've read some of my posts about American Woodcock, you know they are among my very favorite birds. And as strange as these birds are, my particular encounters with them (nearly) every Autumn is almost equally as strange. I'll say that originally, this species "found me" versus the other way around. One day, I was casually walking a paved road in a large cemetery near my workplace. I had already been "birding" here frequently for a couple of years, but my mind was blown when an American Woodcock came bobbing across the mowed, green lawn grass, right out in the open. I mean, that bird would have been impossible to NOT notice, even by the average "non birder."
This first encounter set the stage for my obsession with Woodcocks, and I've spent the last 10 years searching for them every October. I can say confidently that I've had some AMAZING looks at these birds over the years, but I'll also say that I've invested ENORMOUS amounts of time for those opportunities. The times I do find them are always the exception, and I couldn't even tell you how many times I've come up empty-handed. In the process, I've learned a heck of a lot about when, where (and how) to find them -with some degree of reliability. I guess I’d say they were more reliable in the early years. They’ve become noticeably more difficult to locate over the past 4 to 5 years though. And, in last fall of 2023, I failed to locate one at all. It was kind of heartbreaking, though expected. To be honest, I wasn’t 100% sure they’d ever return. Which is why this particular encounter was pretty special to me. It just so happened to be on the very same day that I saw that first bird exactly 10 years ago to the day -October 14th.
I often wonder just how many years these birds have been making a migration “pit-stop” at this cemetery. Does the occurrence predate the cemetery even? And are they the same birds, or from the same family? And how do they find it every year, with consistent timing to boot? I’ll never know the answers, but I’m incredibly grateful to have had as many encounters with them as I have. In all honesty, I’ve been a bit careful -even a little selfish maybe- with whom I’ve shared this information with. I can think of only 4 people (all my closest birding friends) with whom I have.
Hennepin County, MN 10/14/24
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