Free Nature Program in Clarion March 8 at 6:30 p.m. at the Clarion Free Library.
Seneca Rocks Audubon Society will sponsor a program given by Andrew Troutman of the Pennsylvania Game Commission on the basic biology of the American Woodcock. Woodcock are classified as shorebirds, although they breed locally, in our shrubby fields and forest edges. Well- camouflaged and more often heard than seen, woodcock are known for their spectacular courtship flights at dusk, and you may be fortunate to see one doing the “rhumba” in broad daylight.
Andrew will explain the population trends for woodcock in Pennsylvania and how the Game Commission works with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct yearly surveys to track the population and health of the bird. Andrew hopes that by the end of program, everyone there will be able to recognize the sound(s) of the woodcock.
Andrew became a deputy with the Commission in 1998 in the southern Clarion County district. He graduated from the Ross Leffler School of Conservation in March of 2008 and was placed in Bradford County. Since 2011, he has been in the southern Jefferson County district.
The program, free and open to the public, will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the lower level of the Clarion Free Library on Main Street in Clarion. Come early to socialize. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.