Fieldwork is afoot!

We launched the field season last Tuesday to very cold temperatures & high winds.  Despite the rough conditions, we had a few birds! So the woodcock are back and clearly courting.  As the week progressed and the temperatures warmed up, activity skyrocketed. On Friday we had 20-30 woodcock!  

For the rest of the month and through April, we'll be out in the field each night recording behavior, mapping out their singing-ground sites (the areas they display from), and banding them. A select few will receive transmitters funded here at experiment.com so we can gather more precise data about how they use the post-industrial landscape. 

 

Here's some of the smaller gear purchased for the season:Peter Pyle's guide to aging & sexing NA birds vol 2, stretch magic (for attaching harnesses), a scale, wing ruler, calipers, portable speakers, headlamps, solar lights, and a spotlight. It's nocturnal work - we need a lot of light at times!

 

Here are 3 of the 5 brave folk who ventured out into the field when it was in the low 30s, winds 30-50mph, into a wetland (which makes it feel even colder) just to find a plump little bogsucker.

 And finally, here's a video I shot tonight while I was waiting for the woodcock to begin displaying. @woodcockwatchNJ #JerseyDoodles