American Woodcock

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I saw this bird in the park yesterday and managed to get some shots. Knowing very little about birds I searched around and my best guess is that it is an America Woodcock.

 

Shot with R9/DMR, 180/2.8, f/5.6. This is a crop.

 

[ATTACH]30210[/ATTACH]

[billh]

Interesting bird - what is it trying to eat?

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[richam]

Nice catch. Can't confirm the species, but it does appear to be a woodcock of some type. From my hunting days (mostly in Turkey), I know they like to hang around trees and poke through dead leaves and other forest decay to eat insects and worms that are hidden underneath. Best hunted with a trained pointer dog and a light charge of #9 shot. Quite delicious -- fillet the breasts, roast in the oven, and serve over rice with a some Parmesan sprinkled on top.

[telyt]

Charles you are one lucky guy! It's not easy finding a woodcock let alone getting close enough for a good picture. Well done! Oh yeah, your ID is correct.

[dan_drabek]

An impressive catch with a 180mm. Nice job! Looks like he's been digging for worms.

Was this taken with flash?

DD

[kamilsukun]

Charles,

 

Very realistic photograph. Beautiful bird.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[stuny]

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Charles -

 

Terrific details, framing and colors. Flash?

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Thanks for the comments. No flash on this one, just late afternoon light. As I said earlier the image is cropped. I have a couple others and I will try to post one later this evening.

 

Doug - after doing a little reading about the woodcock I completely understand what you are saying. Not only was I lucky in finding him (her) but I was extremely lucky in the ID also. I found a website that had a drop-down list of all birds and just started going through it - alphabetically - so you see how fortunate I was that I only had to seach the A's!

 

Bill - they eat worms, hench the muddy bill.