HIDE OUT LAUREL MD FULL

Across the East, since the 1960s, nearly 13 million acres of scrubby brushland habitats have been lost either to suburban development or to their conversion to older forest вЂ“ and with it go the woodcock. The protection this dense habitat offers from mammalian and avian predators, and the rich earthworms that can be found there, make it prime real estate for timberdoodles.Д«ut brushlands themselves are a short-lived phenomenon, and around the Great Swamp Refuge they can attain forest character (with trees dominating and shading out the vegetation at ground level) in as few as 10 years. You see, woodcock depend on brushlands and thickets (sometimes called young forest) for siting their nests on the ground and then rearing their young. And the primary reason for their decline? The loss of the habitat they need for feeding, hiding out, and raising young.ДЄverage number of woodcock heard on annual survey routes across the Eastern region, 1968-2018./ Graph from Seamans and Rau 2018, American Woodcock Population Status, 2018.

This longterm dataset shows that the woodcock population has been in steady decline since surveys began. Once compiled, the data is used to monitor the rangewide population and then to set annual hunting harvest limits at the federal level. Following a standardized protocol, this cooperative data is submitted annually to the ServiceвЂ™s Division of Migratory Bird Management at Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Maryland. So if these brushy fields are so good for woodcock, you might ask: Why was it my task to evaluate them for possible cutting? To answer that, we turn to the U.S Fish and Wildlife ServiceвЂ™s Migratory Birds program, and the annual surveys that theyвЂ™ve been conducting вЂ“ one that the refuge participates in annually вЂ“ since 1968.Д®ach spring, states and National Wildlife Refuges alike send volunteers and staff out to listen for singing males on 1,000 woodcock survey routes across the speciesвЂ™ range. Shielded by all thatвЂ™s above, the woodcock must feel that this is the perfect place to build their ground nests and raise their fluffy young. Not to be outsmarted, the woodcock have developed a graceful dance вЂ“ a sort of forward-stepping, vertical bobbing motion вЂ“ to detect the earthwormвЂ™s nearly imperceptible underground presence.

HIDE OUT LAUREL MD FULL

The moist earth, protected from the sunвЂ™s evaporative rays by leaves above and underfoot, is chock full of earthworms who erroneously think THEY are protected by all the brambles. Dense leaves hide the sky from the woodcockвЂ™s upward-looking and predator-leery eyes. I envision what it must be like for a woodcock to wander through this brush, navigating their way through stems spaced like agility pegs and horse jumps. Opposable thumbs aside, I canвЂ™t imagine itвЂ™s much easier for a fox or a coyote to make its way through here.

This is a miserable place to be a large mammal. No wonder the woodcock love this stuff, I thought. My task: evaluate each field and determine its fate вЂ“ would it be cut this year, or would it remain? Woodcock feeding on earthworms in moist soil./T.

Hide out laurel md