I arrived at the “Woodcock Field” just off the Huntley Meadows Hike/Bike Trail
around 7:00 this evening. 2 other birders were just ahead of me and Elton and
Alyssa Morel followed about 10 minutes later. Sunset time was officially 7:10
this evening and the sky was bright and clear. The first peenting began right
at 7:25, although there was a bird that flew into the middle of the field
directly in front of us about 5 minutes prior to that. We counted a minimum of
4 peenting Woodcock and several nice display flights. We were situated toward
the south end of the field and one particular bird did at least 3 display
flights, landing very near us on the trail or close in the field each time. We
observed for about 20 minutes after the first peent and there were still some
display flights as we were leaving, but activity did appear to be tailing off.
Besides the Woodcocks there were 2 nice flocks of Tundra Swans and one flock of
Canada Geese flying northward. The second flock of Swans was 200-250 strong,
all in one almost perfect V. A very stunning sight.
Dave Boltz
