But it was another unusual and unidentifiable set of subtle sounds in the evenings of spring that caught my attention and had me baffled. Then one day a new thought came to me and I ran to my house and grabbed my copy of Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. There in the April chapter under “Sky Dance” was my answer. I was listening to the courting ritual of the American Woodcock that Leopold so eloquently described. I was hooked and since then I’ve enticed a family member or friend to join me on damp evenings at sunset to encounter this mysterious bird on my land or a nearby park.

Photo by Tom Murray