Woodcock Walk at the Wayne MacCallum WMA

Eleven Forbush Club members and others attended the annual Woodcock Walk at the Wayne MacCallum Wildlife Management Area on an overcast warm and windy Spring evening listening for the American Woodcock’s “peent ” call and watching for its notorious sky dance.

We saw and heard this in abundance! Laura Lane led the group to two ponds where Red Winged Blackbirds and Wood Ducks were observed. A pair of beavers also kept us entertained until it was time for the Woodcock. Some other highlights included a Bald Eagle and a Barred Owl singing.

As we walked back to the fields, a Woodcock flew across the path right in front of the group. We were then rewarded with about 20 minutes of four individual birds flying high in the sky, hovering, then diving quickly, peenting relentlessly in the fields. Here is a nice article written by mass.gov that goes into this rather remarkable display- https://www.mass.gov/news/dance-of-the-american-woodcock

The full ebird list from the evening may be found here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/500979