Stalking the Woodcock's Nightly Performance

Reading a paperback edition of "A Sand County Almanac" around 1969 instilled a desire in me to see the woodcock's "sky dance" described in the book, which a nice sketch or two of  a woodcock, along with other black-and-white sketches. 

I did my second night Nature walk last night, this one at Honey Run Highlands Park, near Millwood, Ohio, a very short drive from Apple Valley in Howard, Ohio.


I went in search of the woodcock dance, having read an e-mail about a sighting at this park on March 31.  Like other sightings I've read, this dance has been occurring between 8 and 8:30 p.m.


So, I got to the park around 6:30 p.m. and walked until I found a great spot, on a hilltop with a 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside, in a prairie area, with a bench!  I had lunch and waited until 8:30, but no woodcock, or even his "peenting" call.




It's possible I might have heard the peenting and mistook it for a frog call.   I heard plenty of spring peepers at the park, plus a  barred owl call, and some frightened calls from deer and unseen wildlife I scared.


Just before I got to the park, I saw two turkey vultures eating road kill, and more vultures flying around the park.


I heard plenty of bird calls, until late in the evening.


I sent an e-mail the birdwatcher who saw the woodcock dance, asking about where they were in the park when they saw the display.

Tips from DNR Expert for Seeing Mass Salamander Migration

Longtail salamander on his way to freedom after release from my container, along the Kokosing River in Millwood, Ohio, on August 7, 2013.  (Photo by Don Comis)

After getting tips from Jim McCormac, with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, (JimMcCormac.blogspot.com), I'm convinced for the first time that I will see the mass salamander migration when it occurs at Kenyon College.

I wrote to him on his blog last night and this morning, here was his thorough answer:

"Above 50 degrees is best, although the animals will move in smaller numbers in the 40's. It doesn't matter if it is actually raining, just that it has recently and the ground is wet. This often means being out in the rain, though. Usually amphibians are moving by 9 pm if conditions are right, and may continue all night if conditions remain warm and wet enough."

This means that I was wrong that it had to be raining during the migration.  It also means that the  migration goes on from about 9 p.m. to just before daybreak.  So I can arrive anytime during that six hour window.  All I have to do is keep an eye out on a day with rain in the forecast and a temperature of 40 to 50 degrees or more, the more the better, during the night.

So, for example, this Friday is promising as far as rain during the day probably leaving the ground wet that night and a high of 54 degrees Fahrenheit.  But, the night low will be below 40 degrees F.  That night, around 8 p.m., I'll have to go outside and see if the ground is wet from the day's rains and check the temperature.  If it stays 54 degrees F, say, at 8 p.m., it would be worth a try.  But it doesn't sound like a night that a mass migration will continue for six hours.

That might mean I have to try a two hour watch on two or three nights to see the biggest migration, but that's doable, compared to staying out all night and doing that more than few times!