American Woodcock in our backyard - Apr 8, 2014

From around 1:30 p.m. to 2:10 p.m., I watched an American Woodcock slowly wobble from the flower bed along the west side our house, southward through our west spirea flower bed. It disappeared from my view when it moved behind the big oak tree at the southwest corner of our yard. During it's journey, it occasionally probed the soft dirt for food. I saw it gulp down a worm.

This is a new yard bird and quite the surprise for a small urban lot.

At about 1:30 p.m., Barney was determined to go outside through the back door. When I let him out, I watched him through the kitchen window. The neighbor who borders the south edge of our yard had his boxer dog out. That's why Barney wanted outside.

The two dogs met at the fence and barked at each other. Then I saw a bird fly up from near Barney. That area of the yard is under shrubs and the ground is covered with some kind of vine, ivy, or ground cover plant.

I thought it strange for a Mourning Dove to have such a delayed reaction with flight, especially so close to Barney. But I noticed that the flight was different. It fluttered more. I saw the bird fly down toward the west side of the house. I wondered if it was an AMWO, since they would be migrating now.

I looked out the west-facing computer room. This room exists at the southwest corner of our house. On the ground, holding still, a few feet from the house foundation was the AMWO.

After holding still for a while, it began it very slow, wobbling journey southward. Around 1:45 p.m. while halfway through the west spirea bed, it started foraging.

It then wobbled, walked slowly, paused at times, foraged at times, and finally at 2:10 p.m., it moved along and around in behind the big oak tree at the southwest corner of our backyard. The AMWO moved back into the ground cover area with the shrubs. A little more protection.