Smethport, Pa.:  Due to cold weather, John Dzemyan, Leader of the Woodcock Singing Ground Surveys here in NC PA for the U.S. Geological Survey, announces that this Tuesday’s planned surveys have been moved to the following Tuesday, 4/22.  All else will stay the same.

Members of the Allegheny and Upland Bird Hunt Chapters of the Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS), and other volunteers, will be conducting the surveys.  Members of the public are invited to attend and learn about the woodcock ‘sky dance’, one of nature’s truly unique courtship displays.  Please register with John Dzemyan at jdzemyan@gmail.com if you plan to attend so information is available for everybody.

Volunteers will meet between 6 and 6:30 pm at the Clermont Park in Clermont, McKean County.  Many volunteers will be bringing a snack of some type to share – e.g., hotdogs and buns, sausage, cheese, chips, and dips.  Once everybody has become familiar with other attendees, had a bite to eat, and have their woodcock survey information, the volunteers will head to their survey spots between 7-7:30 p.m.  Most surveys will start after 8:00 p.m. and last 30-40 minutes as the sun sets.

The seven survey routes out of Clermont were established by the US Geological Survey decades ago, and have been monitored on an annual basis by volunteers within the RGS or the American Woodcock Society.

Come on out and learn what this fun volunteer activity is all about and how it benefits woodcock.