Whitesbog 2/27--American Woodcock

Tundra Swans on ice, Upper Reservoir, Whitesbog

After a trip to the dump I took a long walk around Whitesbog, from the village out to the Upper Reservoir and back. It had its frustrations. For one thing we're back in the grips of the "Arctic Vortex." For another, there weren't many birds about and the ones that were there were either being damned elusive or very skittish. Just past Union Pond I flushed a Wood Duck; it flew up out of the reeds and right back down again, never to be seen again, though I did hear it rustle its wings again. The big flock of Tundra Swans and Canada Geese on the frozen bog up and left as soon as they sensed me.  I did get a chance at another flock on the Upper Reservoir, but between the Wood Duck and the Reservoir I saw exactly: 2 chickadees and 1 junco. 

As I was coming around on the loop I took the double road back to where I saw the Wood Duck. I came across this very nice Ring-necked Duck in the channel between the roads.

As I was walking along the path slowly, hoping to find the Wood Duck again, I saw what I at first took to be a crow fly over across the road, but instantly saw that it was a hawk. A hawk of some kind and I really wanted it to be a Rough-legged Hawk (which would be a lifer) but despite all my hard looking, all I could truthfully say is that it was a dark hawk, with a slight dihedral, soaring in circles. It never came overhead for me to get any field marks. More frustration. 

Walking back through the village I flushed another bird from just off the side of the road. Its wings twittered. "Woodcock!" I said. Then another. I saw this one fly off toward the back. Then another flew off after I took a couple of steps! Perfect habitat: a wet, brushy area right next to a little stream. They were flying back toward the wet woods. I couldn't go directly to where they landed since I'd be walking in someone's backyard (people do live at Whitesbog), so I doubled back 50 feet and took the path into the woods. I walked back to where I thought they'd gone and boom, they were off again. So, while I didn't get field guide views of them, I did turn up my FOY woodcocks. That made up for some of the frustration with the hawk. 

My list for Whitesbog:

15 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose  97
Tundra Swan  63
Wood Duck  1
Ring-necked Duck  1    
Turkey Vulture  4
Killdeer  1
American Woodcock  3
Blue Jay  1
crow sp.  1
Carolina Chickadee  2
Hermit Thrush  2
American Robin  6
Fox Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  3
Dark-eyed Junco  3
Northern Cardinal  1    Heard, village

I next drove over to Pemberton Lake WMA. When I was there with Shari a couple of weeks ago, it was completely covered in snow, though parts of the lake were open. I wanted to see what it was like to walk around it a bit. 

It's a great spot for ducks. About 1/2 the water is open. I parked at one end of the lake and walked about 3/4 of its length. It snowed off and on the hour I was there. The most surprising birds there for me were the hen & drake Northern Pintails I found nestling in with a flock of Mallards.

My Pemberton WMA list:

17 species
Canada Goose  700
Tundra Swan  5    f/o
Gadwall  1
American Wigeon  10
American Black Duck  4
Mallard  50
Northern Pintail  2
Ring-necked Duck  100
Hooded Merganser  25
Common Merganser  200
Great Blue Heron  2
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1
Mourning Dove  3
Downy Woodpecker  1
Carolina Chickadee  1    Heard
Carolina Wren  2    Heard
American Robin  1