American Woodcock in our backyard - Apr 8, 2014

From about 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 sighting 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 outside. That's why Barney wanted out.

The two dogs met at the fence near the southwest corner of our lot, and they 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. At the very south edge, it's also where I dump yard debris.

I thought it strange for a Mourning Dove to have such a delayed reaction with flight, especially so close to Barney. But I immediately 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, so I hustled to the computer room.

I looked out the west-facing window in our 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 its very slow, wobbling journey southward. Around 1:45 p.m. while halfway through the west spirea bed, it started foraging.

Then it wobbled, walked slowly, paused at times, foraged at times, and finally at 2:10 p.m., it moved along the west side of the big oak tree and in behind the tree base at the southwest corner of our backyard. The AMWO moved back into the ground cover area with the shrubs. That area offers a little more protection.

If the bird wanted to hunker down and rest, it could do it easier in the southwest corner of the yard with the ground cover, old leaf litter, and shrubs. Plus fencing exists along the west and south edges of our yard.

It's comical to watch the AMWO's body swivel forward and backward while the legs and head remain still. It would slowly lift up one leg and place it forward while swiveling. Then hold its legs still while swiveling its body. Then it would advance the next leg forward. Swiveling. Lots of Swiveling.

Sometimes it would stop swiveling, and hold perfectly still. And occasionally, it stuck its long bill into the dirt, searching for morsels.

It's a fun bird to watch. The camouflage pattern on its back looks like tree bark and old leaves. It has some warm, dull, burnt orange-ish coloring on its sides. When an AMWO rests on a ground with leaf litter, it can be difficult to spot the bird because it blends in so well.

The west spirea bed is mostly void of old leaves, but the ground cover area at the sound end of our yard contains enough leaf litter for the bird to blend in if it wants to hide. It's a bit difficult to rake leaves from the ground cover area.

I have not seen the AMWO since it moved behind the oak tree at 2:10 p.m.

Maybe it will hang around for the day and make its "peent" call this evening.

#birds - #home - #yard - #blog_jr