We are about as urban as it gets. We are blocks from downtown where admittedly there is more concrete. This morning I started to weed the dandelions, thistle, and wood sorrel out of the beds bordering the street sidewalk. I had been working them for about 30 mins when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that something moved about an inch. I couldn't believe it! Six feet from a busy sidewalk was a Scolopax minor (American woodcock or timberdoodle)!!! It's been there all day. Before dusk it was a bit more active feeding on bugs in the soil. The last shot is the last photo I got with light almost gone. The first shows my finger pointing to about where the bird was in the second shot and showing proximity to a busy sidewalk. We also live on a main ambulance route. I don't know how it put up with all of the walk-by traffic, the sirens, cars, people walking dogs, cats, etc. New bird for the yard...and a shocker.
Apologies in advance for photo quality...cell phone, mostly cloudy, and poor photographer.
Always looking for interesting plants for pollinators and food! Bonus points for highly, and pleasantly scented plants.
"Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, nihil deerit." [“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”] -- Marcus Tullius Cicero in Ad Familiares IX, 4, to Varro. 46 BCE
