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Woodcock run-in



Last night, my family and I returned home to Clayton from Raleigh about
7:00. As we passed a plant nursery, a woodcock launched itself directly
into the path of my vehicle, and we hit it. I searched for about 15
minutes for the body (he hit too hard to survive long), but I never
found it (I did find several body feathers, though). The curious thing
to me is the" habitat" it apparently left: the tree and shrub section of
the nursery. Upon reflection, it occured to me that the closely spaced
containers of spindly, dense young trees emulated high quality woodcock
habitat quite well, although I can't imagine this bird had much success
foraging there. However, they forage primarily at night, and may use
habitat like this primarily as daytime roosting cover. A soybean field
is located across the road and would represetn good nocturnal foraging
habitat.

Always keep your eyes open, and drive slower at night!

Clyde Sorenson
clyde_sorenson@ncsu.edu
Clayton and Raleigh, NC