SPRING DOODLES – SCOUTING FOR WOODCOCK IN THE OFF SEASON
By Edgar Castillo
It was a gloomy, overcast day. There was a bit of chill in the air, enough where I had to zip up my jacket even further to keep the chilly breeze out. My boots trudged along the worn path without purpose as we walked past tangled messes of saplings. Patches of red sumac swayed gently in the wind, as Mallards could be heard in the distant background, and crows overhead squawked at our uninvited presence. It was late February, and they were all but subtle reminders of a bird season that had ended roughly four weeks prior. I was glad to be back out and excited for the possibility of coming across spring woodcock migrating through Kansas.
My friend Rich and I were following up on a tip that woodcock were making a layover in The Sunflower State as they returned north. They are known scientifically as Scolopax minor, but colloquially referred to as timberdoodle, bog sucker, swamp & night partridge, Labrador twister, mud snipe, timber rockets, and “dood’s” or doodles. No matter what they are called, our goal was to pinpoint their specific habitat, so we could hunt them in the fall on their reverse migration south. For years there had been rumors of the little pudgy bird with oversized black eyes and elongated bill living in the damp shadows as it stopped between flights in Kansas. There was no hard evidence, only chance encounters by a very few quail hunters. And even less eyewitness of the mythic bird during the spring. Until now.
An amped up, small, tricolored blur bounded about like an excited child at a playground. The mostly black, little French dog was excited to have returned to the field to do what it was bred and trained for…to find birds. Stormy zipped by us, almost causing me to trip when she abruptly stopped in mid stride. Suddenly, a trilling fluttering of wings launched from the ground. My brain immediately processed the twittering sound and sent a message to my mouth, where I loudly exclaimed, “Woodcock!” I had not heard the familiar sound since hunting Southern Missouri last October, and certainly, never in Kansas!
Optimal Woodcock Habitat & the Woodcock Dance
As woodcock journey home, they make stopovers in the central states in early spring. The birds key in on specific habitat such as moist, young forests or shrubby old fields and thickets, which are concentrated along edges and riparian areas. These specific sites provide ample cover and food resources as they probe for earthworms. This makes their distribution in Kansas limited to the eastern side of the state.
These plats also become a place for males to court females by establishing “singing” grounds. At dawn and dusk, males perform ground displays by making their trademark nasaly “peent” call, then spiraling upward to fly over the singing ground. As males execute their aerial “sky dance,” air passes through the wings, creating a unique twittering sound. While zigzagging downwards in flight, melodic chirps are sung. Once mates are chosen, nesting is typically from early March into June. Nests are created in slight depressions on the ground amongst dead leaves in young upland woods. Females lay one egg a day until completing a normal clutch of four.
The area we were in met all the requirements needed by the birds. Walking, we found woodcock splash or chalk scattered about – vital indicators of prime habitat. The various island thickets and edges of tangled groves we passed were met by flushing birds.
Woodcock splash or chalk.
An excellent resource for wingshooters to track both the spring and fall woodcock migration is the Migration Mapping – RGS (ruffedgrousesociety.org).
Scouting Success
More often than not, woodcock sensing pressure would take flight just as Stormy would pick up their scent. On a few occasions the wind played favor to Stormy, leading to statuesque points that resulted in photo captures. Sometimes, the woodcock would run along the ground before bursting through twisted brambles. Each time we watched the overly plump birds whisk away effortlessly, only to set back down a short distance away.
I have always described the underside of the woodcock’s wings as “pinkish,” highlighted with an orange-buff belly. The whistling-like chirp produced when flushed is similar to the takeoff sound of mourning doves. Its rhythmic whistling notes are a delight to hear as they depart post haste almost bat-like, twisting and banking, flying a short distance to land in another thicket.
For three hours we explored a large area focusing on very distinctive habitat. A slight change in the landscape would be met with no woodcock. We in turn would abruptly turn around and within a fleeting period of time find woodcock again. This cat and mouse game resulted in a dozen birds being located. With their cryptic camouflage pattern, they morphed into the littered ground debris, while being pointed by Stormy.
With a renewed enthusiasm of finally finding the diminutive, little shorebirds in Kansas, we returned repeatedly. Each time, we took note of the weather patterns and focal points of habitat where we had previously located birds. Over a period of three weeks with fluctuating temperatures, we returned four more times, cataloguing counts of 25, 27, 18, and 8 on my flush counter, not including re-flushes.
In the end, the month of March had me walking thickets with an energetic French Brit in search of woodcock. We pieced together pieces of a vegetive puzzle that we hope proves its worth when the season begins. Dare I say that come October, if their migration south can be dialed in…ohhh, what a wonderful time it will be to chase ‘doodles in Kansas.
“I want there to be woodcock forever flying over in October, and solitude…”
– George Bird Evans
“The woodcock is a living refutation of the theory that the utility of a game bird is to serve as a target, or to pose gracefully on a slice of toast…Since learning of the sky dance, I find myself calling one or two birds enough. I must be sure that, come April, there will be no dearth of dancers in the sunset sky….”
From A Sand County Almanac – Aldo Leopold
