American Woodcock in Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area. Minnesota. Photo by Paco Lyptic.

I saw an American woodcock at the Colony Farm Orchard Monday afternoon.  It flew up from a little patch of woods as I approached.  I only got a quick look, but woodcock are easy to identify, with the big head and the large dark eye nearly centered as you see it from the side.  The bird flies almost in the same posture as it walks, head up and the long beak angling down.

Seeing a woodcock in mid-August means the bird probably bred nearby in spring or early summer, or else was hatched nearby.  I have a feeling that woodcock would be unlikely to nest successfully on the Asylum Lake property across the road.  The habitat mix there is not quite as good for woodcock as on the orchard, but the main weakness of the Preserve is the high number of dogs.  They are supposed to be kept on a leash, but dogs like to run and owners are indulgent.  I suspect that nests of most ground-nesting birds are sniffed out by roaming dogs often enough that many are abandoned.

There is a much greater diversity of habitat at the orchard property than is obvious from Drake Road.  I have some thoughts about what ought to happen to this part of the Asylum Lake Preserve that I’ll try to deal with in a later post.

Field with invading trees at Colony Farm Orchard. Copyright ©Richard Brewer 2009.