Last Woodcock

Orange-bellied American Woodcock taken by Red-tailed Hawk. Dramatic, but not the last word. The other night, we heard a few Woodcocks, who have some great alternative names (bog snipe, bog sucker, timberdoodle, Labrador twister), at Floyd Bennett Field. The males were calling, then flying into the air twittering and burbling to impress potential mates.

The Woodcocks abide, even as their habitat is diminished and the poisons take their toll (as do hunters).

In other news, it it possible to beat the beast. Last December, in Houston TX, smack in the middle of one of the most reactionary states of the union, the Democrats celebrated victories while the national party, having wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on the bullshit of TV and consultants, reeled.