I’ve been seeing posts on Reddit about the American Woodcock making an appearance again this year in Bryant Park, and seeing as I had to commute into the office this week, I took it as an opportunity to see if I could add a new lifer to the list.
Only packing the 24-70 DG DN II with me (had to cut weight for the commute), I made my way over to the southwest corner of the park and sure enough, I saw a paparazzi of fellow birders looking in one direction – looking at this little buddy:
Apparently it had been roaming in some ivy but someone came walking through and scared it over to this corner. Eventually it would poke around but mostly stayed secluded in the bushes. There was a second one that flew in later in my session, but quickly flew away and down the street away from the park after we tried to get closer.
Such good camouflage!
And that’s not all! Leveraging all the zoom capabilities of my phone, I was able to capture its cute little dance/walk as it shuffled around. But it quickly reverted to its shy hiding.