Woodcocks and Owls

Guest post by our friend and expert birder, AW.

Sunday evening, following a spring time ritual, I walked from Moody Road to Maple Drive at dusk in hopes of hearing American Woodcocks and seeing their flight display. Mid-March is when they start to come back to their breeding territories. I did not find any evidence of them this time, but I was surprised to hear another bird calling from the woods west of the Huntington River and the Camel’s Hump Alpaca farm fields. In the 10+ years I’ve been walking this route, it was only the second time I’ve heard a Northern Saw Whet tooting persistently from the woods. February 14, 2012 was the other time I heard one in nearly the same place, leaving me to wonder if it is a resident bird! Nice!

Give a Hoot, Get a Hoot! Donate $10 and

Give a Hoot, Get a Hoot! Donate $10 and we can thank you with a handmade owl.

Crocheted Owls by Intern Elizabeth Mitchell Spinney
Crocheted Owls by Intern Elizabeth Mitchell Spinney

Come on into the Museum to pick your own and donate! Call us if you’re far away; we shipped some to Alaska (for the donation plus postage)!  (802) 434-2167.