Timberdoodles in Burgoyne Woods

Spring is here and American Woodcock are being observed in Niagara. Even before the Spring Equinox, I was receiving eBird alerts for the shorebird that is also known as a timberdoodle. Friends had observed woodcock in reliable areas of Niagara but the one evening Jean and I searched for them near Woodend Conservation Area on the Niagara Escarpment, we came home without an annual tick.

It is still early in the year and another visit could produce an observation. Or we could try another location. The opportunity arose at the Peninsula Field Naturalists' indoor meeting this past Monday. When I asked members to share their recent nature sightings, Ken Smith informed us that he heard and saw American Woodcock in the St. Catharines park Burgoyne Woods.

Jean and I went to the park the next evening and waited to hear the peent call at dusk. The area is on the east side of the municipal park and it has suitable habitat near the dog park. The only disadvantage was that it's close to the Highway 406. The drone of the cars did not have a negative effect and Jean and I heard the first call of an American Woodcock 10 minutes into our survey. Another call came from the opposite direction and the bird flew upward and started its flight display over our heads. With a limited amount of sunlight left, it was quite the sight.

We stayed a bit longer and I recorded a couple videos and though it was a shot in the dark, I managed to capture a quick glimpse of the timberdoodle in flight.

Tick number 90 for our Niagara year list. Though there are some species missing when comparing the current list to 2018 we're still on track and I expect to add some more ticks before the end of the month.

Birding in Cuba

It has been six years. Six long years since Jean and I travelled south of the continental United States to find birds. We were due. So to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary last year, we decided to look into possible destinations and organized trips.

One stood out. Cuba in February 2019. Travelling through the western provinces with just the right mixture of endemics and species found in the West Indies. The last check in the pro column was the guide. Fellow Niagara birder Josh Vandermeulen would be leading the trip. That's all that we needed to reach a final decision.

So it was just a matter of waiting for 2018 to end and counting down the days until we left the cold and snow of southern Ontario bound for Havana. The fact that we would arrive just before midnight did not deter us. Jean had prepared a list of 81 species that we could possibly see that would be lifers and we would start working on scratching birds off that long list the very next morning.