Wordless Wednesday: American Woodcock

I can't go entirely wordless today- I want to give a little background. Every night at about 7:30 for the past couple of weeks, we've been hearing an interesting bird in our yard. It comes and lands just alongside our driveway and starts making an intermittent beeping sound. Since it comes at "late dusk" and stays until dark, seeing it camouflaged among the grass and leaves in the shadow of a tree is almost impossible.

On Sunday, using the amazing online resource, "The Cornell Lab of Ornithology- All About Birds," I thought I had identified it as a nighthawk by it's sound. But then, on Monday, I managed to get this photo and learned it's real identity: an American Woodcock.

Photo taken 1 April 2013

I know the photo isn't great- I had a hard time in the dim light. I set my camera on a slow shutter speed, pointed where I thought the bird was sitting and shot. I only took three photos before the light was too dim to focus any more.