A Timber Doodle in Our Backyard!

This is a woodcock. It was in our backyard yesterday! When peering out the kitchen window to survey the birdlife, we spied an odd-looking, lumpish bird strolling the fenceline and eating the occasional treat (bugs?). Consulting our Peterson's Guide, Britt determined that the bird was a woodcock! Our encyclopedic bird book lists the woodcock's "other names" as: ... Wood Snipe, Night Partridge, Night Peck, Timber Doodle, Hookum Pake, Labrador Twister, Bogsucker, Bog-bird, Pewee, Whistler, Big-eyes.

Probably this timber doodle was migrating. Even so, our backyard at daytime is not its typical habitat; a woodcock is actually nocturnal and prefers shadowy retreats: "usually in the swamps, but often in open upland woods."