Woodcock Courtship Flights

May 16, 2011, 8:00 to 10:00pm

Deep dusk displays of courting woodcock involve death defying dives.

This is a fun hunt! Once a year, recently, SPAS has received permission to be on the Arden Hills Army Training Site (AHATS) to view dives from heights beyond imagination as the male woodcock woos on-looking females. They are not easy to see, and they perform at dawn and dusk. The sound of his wings making a trilling and thrilling vibration help to pinpoint his landing spot from which he calls plaintively peent peent peent And does a she answer?

Some new rules put in place last fall by EPA and MPCA restrict access and use of AHATS to persons 18 years of age and older. Until action already in process successfully amends the rules called Land Use Control Remedial Design (LUCRD), onlyadults can come on this evening excursion.

Bring your flashlight with the strongest brightest light.

Arrive a few minutes early to meet and form carpools in the parking lot of the Arden Hills City Hall.
AHATS is a locked secure area, so the group will move in and out all together.

_Restriction:_Birders must be 18 years or older (explanation is above)

Registration: No registration required.

Difficulty: Easy.

Contacts: Julian Sellers 651 698 5737 ClayChristensen 651 631 0949

Dress for sitting as temperatures cool. Email or call only if you need additional information.