On March 5th, 36 birders gathered at the Jill Perelman Pavilion at 6:30 pm for the annual Woodcock Walk at West Park in Carmel. The temperature was an unseasonal 70 degrees with very strong winds from the south. After a short briefing, we headed to the park and assembled on the trail between the woods and the open prairie. Promptly at 7:00 pm we began hearing “peenting” sounds coming from multiple American Woodcocks. We soon saw their amazing and unusual aerial displays directly above us. One of the birds landed briefly on the trail and was seen by many of the birders. The wonderful displays went on for approximately 30 minutes. In all, we counted five American Woodcocks displaying. We believe the strong winds were a deterrent to even more of their activities.
Photo of American Woodcock courtesy of Chuck Anderson.