Nesting Woodcock

I was doing some work around my barn this afternoon and scared up this American Woodcock from a small clump of grass and Japanese Honeysuckle vines.

The Woodcock only flew a distance of about 8 feet and then came down in the grass. It froze in place, and I did the same. It had jumped into the air what seem like mere inches from my feet. That, along with the fact that it seemed reluctant to leave the area, suggested that there was a Woodcock nest very close to where I was standing.

I didn’t dare to move my feet for fear of stepping on a nest. While pulling my camera from its belt pouch, I carefully scanned the ground in front of me. The nest was just 18 inches away. Not wishing to disturb the Woodcock anymore than I already had, I took a couple quick pictures of nest and bird, and then slowly backed away. I returned about an hour later and got close enough to see that the female had returned to her nest.

I don’t know if this is the full clutch or if the Woodcock will still add another egg or two. A clutch of four eggs is typical for the species. I’ll have plenty of opportunity to keep an eye on this nest. It’s located only 12 feet from my barn door and only 4 feet from the path I travel every day around the backside of the barn. For the next few weeks, I’ll limit my activities in that area, so the bird can tend to the job of incubating her eggs in relative peace.

Woodcock Nest Finale

Monday afternoon, during my daily visit to check on the Woodcock eggs, I discovered the nest site in a state of disarray.  It wasn’t torn apart, but the nest location was distinctly more visible than before.  I hurried forward to see if the change was due to a visiting predator, or a successful hatching.

It was a hatching, although not one that was completely successful.  Two of the original four eggs remained intact.  The other two looked to have released live chicks into the world.  Unfortunately, the young birds were long gone by the time I arrived on the scene.

The empty shells show all of the signs of a successful hatching.  The chicks peck in a circular pattern around the large end of the egg.  The series of cracks allows the end of the shell to lift off like a lid.  Occasionally, the chick’s toenails will make puncture marks in the small end of the egg as it pushes itself out of the shell.

During the time these eggs were incubating, there have been several thunderstorms and two flooding rains, and temperatures have ranged from 25^oF to 82^oF.  During the time this clutch was being laid there was a storm that produced 2.2 inches of rain and flash flooding.  The location of this nest in the low area next to the creek could easily have been flooded.  It’s possible that the two unhatched eggs were killed during that event.  Woodcocks only produce one brood per year, so I hope the two hatchlings are lucky enough to survive to adulthood.

Woodcock Eggs

I’ve been making daily checks on the nesting Woodcock I posted about last week.  I don’t get close.  There are two large cedars about 35 feet from the nest that make a good hide.  A gap between the two trees is just wide enough for me to use my camera to zoom in on the nest and check the bird.  She has been facing a different direction on each visit, but she sticks tight to the nest.

Wednesday afternoon I saw this.  No woodcock in sight.

I moved in on the position and spotted four eggs.  The uncovered eggs are much easier to see than the sitting bird.

These birds don’t really make much of a nest.  Some of the material at hand seems to be rearranged a bit to make a depression deep enough to keep the eggs clustered together. 

The eggs were still slightly warm to the touch, so I was fairly confident that the Woodcock hadn’t been gone long from the nest and was probably close by hunting for worms.  The nearby area along the small tributary displays many holes left by feeding Woodcock.  I didn’t want to disrupt her return to the nest, so I left the area as soon as I captured a couple of images.

She was comfortably back on the nest the next day.  I’ll keep checking in hopes of viewing the newly hatched chicks.  The female leads the chicks off as soon they have all hatched and dried.  I’ll have to be extremely lucky to show up at just the right time for a sighting.  At least I should be able to find some broken egg shells.

Nesting Woodcock

Every Spring, the fields of Blue Jay Barrens fill with male Woodcocks.  Their calls and display flights are a regular feature for several weeks.  I imagine there are just as many female Woodcocks around, but they are encountered with much less frequency.  I discovered this female while I was walking through a field on Saturday morning.  My boot was only two feet from the end of her bill when she caught my eye.

Since the females alone incubate the eggs, finding a woodcock on the nest is the only way I’m sure the bird is female.  These ground nesting birds depend upon camouflage to avoid the eye of a predator and will sit motionless on the nest while an intruder paces around nearby.  After finding myself so close to the nest, I backed off a ways before taking any pictures.  I’ve read that a nesting woodcock will sometimes allow a person to stroke its back without fleeing the nest.  There are also accounts of Woodcock abandoning their nests after being disturbed.  I probably cause enough unintentional disturbance to local wildlife.  I would like to have seen her eggs, but I wouldn’t deliberately flush her because of that. 

Nesting Woodcocks are nearly impossible to see from a distance.  In the above photo, the female Woodcock is centered in the frame, just to the left of the small tree. 

She is even hard to find in a close up shot, if you don’t know where to look.  

Zoom in even more and put her in the center of the photo, and then she’s easy to find.

I checked on her again Sunday and found that she had turned to face away from the little tree.  Incubation takes about three weeks, so these eggs should hatch before the end of the month.  Click HERE to see photos of a recently hatched Woodcock chick that I found a couple of years ago.

Woodcock Chick

I’ve faced off with many wild creatures and it’s usually the animal that backs down.  In my most recent encounter, I chose to break contact and withdraw.  Not because I feared an attack, but because I didn’t want to stress my opponent.  I was face-to-face with a very young Woodcock and it was prepared to play the staring game all day.

I was working my way along the old fence row, spraying invasive sprouts, when a Woodcock flushed just inches in front of my boot.  I froze and began scanning the ground at my feet.  It was likely that the bird had flown from its nest and I certainly didn’t want to step on any eggs.  I could find nothing directly in front of me, so I began to expand the search.  A Woodcock nest typically looks like a mashed down spot in the dead leaves.  The brown spotted eggs blend perfectly with the leaves and are nearly impossible to see.  It turns out that there was no nest.  I finally caught sight of a Woodcock chick about three feet in front of me.

Before moving in to get some close-up shots, I began searching for other chicks.  A chick’s defense behavior is to sit quietly and let camouflage do the work, so I was sure the chick wouldn’t run away before I could get my camera ready.  My concern was in the possibility that I might tromp on a chick as I positioned myself for a shot.  I took a quick look beneath each boot and along my approach route to make sure I hadn’t already inadvertently performed an act of aggression against any of the little fellows.  All clear behind.  I found a second chick about three feet farther on from the first, but I knew there could have been a total of four or five, so I was very careful about where I put my feet.

Woodcock incubation takes about three weeks.  Soon after hatching, the chicks are able to follow after the mother.  The bill will elongate as the bird grows, but it’s already an effective device for probing for food.  Chicks begin searching for earthworms just a few days after hatching.  Dirt on the bill indicates that this chick has been actively hunting, so it must already be several days old.

I left the chicks after a few quick shots, so the mother bird could return.  I’m surprised that she didn’t try to lure me away from the chicks by feigning an injury, but I suppose she’s more expert on Woodcock behavior than I. 

A Camera Critters submission.

Woodcock

Woodcock are beginning to make their way back to the Blue Jay Barrens breeding grounds.  Several have already joined the odd male that has been displaying since November.  It’s not unusual to see Woodcock, but it is uncommon to get a recognizable photograph.

 

I’ve flushed several Woodcock in the last couple of weeks, but they usually move quite a distance before settling back down.  This bird took a short hop of about 30 feet and then tried to sneak away through the underbrush.  Woodcock take full advantage of the browns and grays of the late winter landscape.  When at rest, it can be both in full view and nearly invisible.

 

Its retreat was in the form of a slow walk.  As it moved along, the body swayed rhythmically forward and back.  I just stood and watched as it made its escape.

 

The bird flushed when I walked over to retrieve this glass bottle I had seen sparkling in the sunlight.  If the Woodcock had stayed put I’d like to think I would have seen it before grabbing the bottle.  Their camouflage is so good that I could easily have picked up the bottle and not noticed the bird.

 

When I flush a Woodcock, I always check to see if it might have come off a nest.  So far this year each resting site has had a fresh dropping left by the departing bird.  Mid March is the earliest I’ve ever found a nest with eggs.  So as to not endanger any Woodcock nests, I always stop my clearing and mowing projects by the end of February.  That just gives me a few more days to wrap up my current activities.

December Woodcock Displaying

I see a lot of interesting things that I never get good pictures of, so these things are rarely mentioned on this blog. For the past two weeks I’ve had a Woodcock displaying in the field behind the house. This occurrence is interesting enough to me to warrant the use of some less than satisfactory photos in the telling of the story. I like to think of this as a Child’s First Camera series of photos. Besides the cloudy conditions, sunset was 20minutes past and conditions were well into gloaming. Not the kind of conditions conducive to clear bird photographs.

Male Woodcock have an elaborate courtship display that includes the peent call given by a bird on the ground, followed by a whistle filled aerial ascent and swooping return to earth. It’s a common occurrence at Blue Jay Barrens each spring, but it’s not supposed to be happening now. Wednesday evening had the woodcock launching from a small clearing in the middle of this field. The bird is hidden by the tall grass, so when you factor in the darkness factor you’re left with a picture of double nothing. Lack of light engaged the camera’s auto-flash, so I did illuminate some of the nearby grass. I deactivated the flash before going on.

Here’s the Woodcock on the wing spiraling upward in ever tightening coils. If you have keen eyesight and a vivid imagination, you can see the Woodcock near the center of the photo. Having a Woodcock displaying in December really confuses me because I equate Woodcock mating season with the imminent approach of spring.

This is not the first December Woodcock to visit Blue Jay Barrens. In 2005 and again in 2006 a Woodcock began displaying in late November and continued through winter and into spring. I wonder if this early display gave the bird a breeding advantage over those birds following a more orthodox display season. A sunset backdrop always provides the viewer a more satisfying experience.

Several mornings have had the bird clearing the trees on its takeoff and passing over the house. Unlike the 05-06 bird that put everything it had into attracting a mate, this individual performs a more subdued display. It displays both morning and evening, but sometimes the display is no more than a few peents and two or three flights. It may even skip a day or two.

It’s not unusual for me to flush Woodcock during the winter. They stay in the low draws and creek bottoms where they probe the wet ground for worms. Performing a mating display all winter long seems like a waste of energy. I can’t imagine that chicks emerging in the middle of winter would have much of a survival rate. I often wonder if that enthusiastic winter displayer ever attracted a mate. Maybe the current bird is a descendent of the earlier winter displayer and carries the early mating genes.