WOODCOCK TOTALS AT CAPE CHARLES
[I’ve been having some trouble with how my messages translate when sent to
LISTSERVs and to various individuals. The original of this message has 1 line
between paragraphs and no indentations. So this is a guinea pig message that I
hope you get in an O.K. format.]
Here are some corrections to the recent 2010-2011 Christmas count summary in
vol. 82, no. 1, 2011, of the Raven, specifically concerning the 2nd paragraph
on page 5, that reads, in part:
“The best shorebird count of all was 807 American Woodcocks … in a field at
Cape Charles producing the national all-time high count for the second time and
breaking its old record, set in 1993, when birders stepped out of count
headquarters at the old Peacock Motor Inn to find 570 woodcocks on the front
lawn of the motel … “
807 is the 2010-2011 C.B.C. total for the entire state. The Cape Charles
C.B.C. total for Dec. 30, 2010, is 759. In both 2010 and 1993 (and in other
years) the woodcock are spread out over much of the entire count circle,
especially the “southern tip”, up the west side of the peninsula all the way to
Cape Charles (town), and in smaller numbers up the east side of the peninsula
to Oyster, with even smaller numbers on Smith and Fisherman islands.
The totals of 759 and 570 are probably the highest ever made anywhere.
While it is true that in banner years one may see a dozen or 20 bug-eyed
“Labrador twisters” in one small area, in no case are the woodcock concentrated
in truly huge numbers in just one spot, although this past December in a few
minutes Will Russell found 40+ just around the buildings of Sunset Beach
Resort. (!)
In some years when the weather conditions are not “good” (i.e., the weather is
mild farther north) the Cape Charles count will turn up only 10 or 20 or so
woodcock (see below), but perhaps 75+ percent of the time this count will
produce the national high for any given Christmas Bird Count period.
Since the count’s start in 1965 the timberdoodle totals have been: 3, 100, 47,
120, 99, 44, 43, 34, 56, 24, 83, 103, 28, 41, 26, 272, 52, 56, 24, 38, 61, 39,
40, 63, 124, 30, 23, 17, 570, 12, 33, 68, 12, 121, 41, 106, 41, 37, 46, 99, 51,
41, 32, 97, 23, 759. THAT is a lot of bogsuckers.
Perhaps the best way to see them here in the late fall or early winter, other
than during banner years such as 2010 and 1993, is to stand in the Eastern
Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge on the east-west road that leads to
Ramp Lane and scan the western sky from 15 minutes after sunset until dark.
Traditionally, especially if you are a hunter, the way to find woodcock is to
flush them by walking through brushy, swampy thickets with low trees and scrub.
At Cape Charles plenty are to be found in this manner but also by watching the
west sky at dusk or looking for them in open areas on the south edge of woods,
where the winter sun warms the ground enough for them to probe for worms, and
where the first bare ground may appear after a snowfall.
Best to all. – Harry Armistead, Cape Charles Christmas Bird Count compiler and
Scolopax minor aficionado, Philadelphia.
