Crestwood Village 2/22--American Woodcock

Last night, Steve texted me that he was listening to a woodcock "peenting" over in Toms River. This is a bird I missed all of last year through sheer pig-headedness. Since we moved here, I've been able to get American Woodcock about a mile away from the house, reliably. Except for last year, when I returned to my supposedly reliable spot a half dozen times with no results, all the while refusing to go to any of the other locations where they were being seen and heard, including the place Steve was in last night, because...I don't know... because I wanted the woodcocks to be where I was!

I texted back to Steve that this year I wasn't going to be stubborn and that I would get over to Toms River to listen and maybe even see the woodcocks display, but tonight I was stubborn and at 5:45, just after sunset, I was back at my spot, waiting. At 5:55 the church about a quarter mile away began playing its bells, drowning out any chance I might have of hearing woodcocks for 7 minutes (I timed it). I remember this drove me crazy last year. The bells would chime a tune for a minute or two then stop. For two seconds I'd think it was over, then another tune would start bonging out. Stop. Another song. Stop. Yet another tune.

At 6:02, with the music finally fading away, it was fairly dark but the only bird calls I was hearing came from a flock geese overhead. I had given myself an arbitrary deadline of 6:10. If I didn't hear a woodcock by then, I was abandoning the spot forever and driving to some unlikely soccer field in Toms River next chance I got. Then I heard "Peent!" Or thought I did. I walked in the direction of the sound and heard it again. Then again. Then I heard wings whistling above me, but I couldn't find the bird. After another couple of peents I was satisfied that my reliable spot was still reliable. It may be a bit early for the woodcocks to be displaying (I can return at my leisure to find out), but at least I know they're still there (or have returned after a one year, inexplicable hiatus) and I don't have to drive into Toms River during rush hour to get one.