Chasing a rare county bird

Shortly after noon today someone reported an American Woodcock in Alpine, a dozen or so blocks from our place. So my sister-in-law Dale and I met up at the location around 2 PM as soon as we found out about it. I'm closer, so got there first. No luck at all.

 

Then at dusk, a birder messaged me that he relocated the bird two blocks from where we had looked. The original finder had accidentally posted an incorrect location. Even though it was pretty dark, I headed over there. Was about to give up when I spotted it in the front lawn of the house it had last been reported at. I texted Dale, but she couldn't come. My photos weren't good because I had to use flash. Here's how my camera looked through the lens before flash. That bright dot is the bird's eye. 

My camera seems to have some kind of low light mechanism that puts out light when it tries to focus in low light conditions, thus the reflection in the eye. Focus was only decent on one of the dozen photos I took with flash. Here's my best shot with flash.

Not satisfied with the shot, I decided to run to the house for a flashlight. When I got back a few minutes later, it was pitch dark. I positioned my car crossways in the side street in order to shine lights on the yard where it was foraging. I shone my flashlight around the yard with no luck. Then a car came down the side street so I had to move.

It's a quite special little bird. Years ago, I saw one very briefly in Central Texas with a group of birders out searching in the dark. No photos were taken by me in those days of course.  Will try again in the morning.

Central Texas had a really dry summer, I think, as did other places. So perhaps birds are dispersing farther afield in search of sustenance. Might be an exciting winter!