January 28, 2005 This evening I observed four American Woodcocks behind the Italian Village Restaurant on North Rufe Taylor Road in Greeneville. This site, an open field with sedge or sedge-like grass, has been a reliable spot for woodcocks for at least the last five years. The first sign that woodcocks were present--the classic "peent" call--began at 6:17 p.m. Within a few minutes, I heard (and partially saw) the whole display--"peent" call on the ground, wing "whirr" (which perhaps is better described as trills delivered in bursts) as the birds rose in the air, and "kissing" or "smacking" calls as they descended. I also heard an aggression call that I have heard only rarely before. This sound is a somewhat harsh, somewhat nasal "tat-tat-tat-tat," vaguely reminiscent of the machine-gun-like song of the White-breasted Nuthatch. I heard this vocalization as a woodcock was approaching a landing in an area where I had just identified another woodcock. I couldn't tell if the incumbent was objecting to the challenger or vice-versa, but it was thrilling nonetheless. The action continued until about 6:28 p.m. In checking my records, I discovered that I have no other January woodcock observations. I suspect that this is not because the birds are unlikely to display in Greene County in January, but rather that I have simply not looked at the right time and in the right place. Don Miller Greeneville, TN =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s) endorse the views or opinions expressed by the members of this discussion group. Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ========================================================