Woodcock sighting

BleuBijou

Active member
Every year there is a bird count of birds in the area. It is usually around the end of the year and may be part of the Audubon society. They come up with some birds that are rare in our neck of the country every year..Last year there was a Woodcock sighted at a natural area West of town that is Prairie butting up to the foothills...Well, this year it returned again for some unknown reason and it hangs out in the Prairie Grass.Really not a tree around if your familar with the area...I am not much of a Woodcock expert, but seems odd it survived and returned to the same spot without much cover.
 
Thats amazing!! Were you able to get a picture? I had no idea there were woodcock in CO
The other thing we were commenting on lately is the number of meadow larks still hanging around this year..... El Nino, climate change, combination of the two? Any thoughts?


:confused:
 
I live in the west end of highlands ranch. I've been hearing and seeing blue jays around here that I haven't seen since I moved here in 98. There has also been an increase in wood peckers and those very little black and white birds.
 
We have a ton of blue jays in the fall in Longmont, one bird I see a ton of now an don't ever remember them being here when I was little is fly catchers. They are greyish with a faint yellow chest
 
I live in the west end of highlands ranch. I've been hearing and seeing blue jays around here that I haven't seen since I moved here in 98. There has also been an increase in wood peckers and those very little black and white birds.

We have lots of Blue Jays..I can't put any peanuts in the feeder cause they will be gone in a day.. They come in and grab one and hide it in the fence and come grab more till they are all gone... I have a chickadee house on my tree and they nest in it every year. This year when they were finished a different bird started bringing in sticks and it raised a family as well...Can't recall the name of it, but small enough to fit through the small hole in the box..Sparrrows can't fit in the hole for a reason..Want more chickadee's as they attack the pine beetles for food..

I have not got a photo of the Woodcock, but there is a half dozen or more people there with lenses the size of my arm..I am sure they have and hopefully they will print it in the paper. I have never heard of them being here and it must be migrating from somewhere and likes it here.. It must like the chinook warming winds that are common here.:cheers:
 
http://www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/migration-map#Report

Here is a link you can enter your sighting, might be interesting to see if they response to your information. You can also see historical data on the migration pattern from spring and fall. We helped try and find locations this fall to mist net woodcock to put small gps trackers on them to track their migration. They area great little bird.
 
That's something else, bleu! I grew up in woodcock country, never thought they came anywhere near the Rockies.

I concur with everyone else on the general Huge increase in songbirds this year. We've noticed that we've been seeing probably 20X the normal amount of meadowlarks out east. Assume good weather benefits all the birds equally.
 
http://www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/migration-map#Report

Here is a link you can enter your sighting, might be interesting to see if they response to your information. You can also see historical data on the migration pattern from spring and fall. We helped try and find locations this fall to mist net woodcock to put small gps trackers on them to track their migration. They area great little bird.

That is neat!! Thanks for sharing!!:cheers:
 
Here is a Youtube video of a woodcock spotted in El Paso County last year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsd-YEgdwOw

Awesome Big C !!!! That is more proof they are along the front range!! I have seen what I thought were Woodcock while hunting along the S. Platte up here but always dismissed the sighting because I have never actually seen one flush before..Looking at your video now, It very well could of been a Woodcock on several occassions..This is the terrain I would guess they would use , unlike the grasses and openess of Coyote ridge...Thanks for sharing that video!!:10sign:
 
That is not my video it is just one I found on YouTube. I got a chance to hunt Woodcock this past call in Pennsylvania and it was fun. Hope they make their way here to Colorado.
 
I was in Yuma County hunting pheasant yesterday, and came across a large (40, or so) flock of mourning doves. Yes, I know the difference between mourning doves and collared doves! I see plenty of collared doves every time I hunt out there. But, I have never seen mourning doves this late in the year in Colorado. Will be interesting to see if they are still there in three weeks at the end of pheasant season. I had not hunted that treeline this year, but it is the time of year that I will hit it weekly.
 
I was in Yuma County hunting pheasant yesterday, and came across a large (40, or so) flock of mourning doves. Yes, I know the difference between mourning doves and collared doves! I see plenty of collared doves every time I hunt out there. But, I have never seen mourning doves this late in the year in Colorado. Will be interesting to see if they are still there in three weeks at the end of pheasant season. I had not hunted that treeline this year, but it is the time of year that I will hit it weekly.

I see mourning doves every year wintering on the S. Platte river bottoms.. Usually 20-40. Always thought they were young or lost, but it continued and still continues for some odd reason. Been hunting there since 1988 and no matter the cold or snow they continue to hang out there.:cheers:
 
as the climate temp has continued to increase, bird species across the country have adjusted their range and I'm sure will continue the same. I look forward to spring to see what shows up on our place.
 
"temp has continued to increase"

Not saying that is not the reason, but might it also be attributed to more farmers leaving some grain standing for food plots? Where I am seeing the doves is in an area that still has a fair amount of sunflower and milo standing specifically for bird food. As long as the grain is not buried under snow, maybe they can take the cold. I always thought they were not tolerant of cold.

Time will tell.
 
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