Woodcocks Gone Wild 2025 Trip Report

After two Saturday evening postponements due to weather, we decided to give it one more try for the season, and found a brief window between yet another pair of storm systems to run the event on the evening of Friday, April 11th.

And finally the weather cooperated! It was cloudy, but it was dead calm, and the temperatures were tolerable around 40 degrees. After a little tour of woodcock habitat and an introduction to the amazing evolution and natural history of this secretive shorebird that doesn't live at the shore, we were in place for the first distant "peent" of the evening. Shortly thereafter, a woodcock flew low over our heads, perhaps a male getting in position for the evening performance. We at least had a sighting already, albeit a brief one.

With at least two marginally-distant woodcocks then peenting, our closest bird finally began to call. And call. And call. In what felt like forever, his incessant peenting taunted us, until finally, he launched.

While his flight path was not as easy to follow as on some nights, we enjoyed about 6 launches, with just about everyone seeing him several times. At the very least, with his apex directly overhead and the winds dead calm, the music and vocals of tonight's show were perfect. He was still peenting as darkness fell, but display flights had ceased.

Perhaps it was the late date, or perhaps it was the recent presence of a Barred Owl near his "launch pad," the show came to an end a little earlier than expected. Therefore, with a little time to spare, we took a stroll to a nearby vernal pool. Wood Frogs and Spring Peepers had ceased calling with the falling temperatures by the time we got there, but both to and from the pool, we were treated to a calling Barred Owl! We never did spot him, but later, we heard him and his mate calling back and forth in the distance, too, the finale of a pleasant evening outing.