(Taken from a post to HMBirds on Thu, 27 Mar)

Greetings,

With a little bit of time before meeting up with my
girlfriend this evening I stopped by Geoffroy’s Pond
on Miller Road in Churchtown.

The pond was alive with waterfowl activity and the
expected Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Common Mergansers,
and Mallards were found. However the real surprise
came while watching the ducks. As I walked along the
roadside I caught a glimpse of movement around a
road-side deer carcass, a place where I had observed
feeding Black-capped Chickadees just days before.
Well, this time I noticed a mere 5 feet away, two
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, my first of the year, feeding
on the deer carcass. I guess this is nature’s suet
feeder. Too bad I left my digital at home.

Driving back away from the pond I stopped at the main
field on the way out to look for more waterfowl and
field birds. While not much was in the field other
than a Killdeer, I did happen to come across a single
female YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER flitting about a small
group of shrubs.

However, while today’s birding was quick, it did end
on a very nice note. Shortly after arriving at my
girlfriend’s house in Livingston, the two of us
decided to take a walk around her property in hopes of
hearing woodcock. Well, after searching and listening
for 30 minutes, we heard our first “Peent” of a single
AMERICAN WOODCOCK at 7:25 PM. It wasn’t long before
more started to call, and within 5 minutes at least 8
males were heard calling into the night air. Fortune
would be with us too, and before it got too dark, we
were able to observed at least 2 full displays in the
sky above their house. I told her father that he was
very lucky to have such a show take place on their
property.

Surely a night Aldo Leopold would be proud of.

~Chad