With long thin beaks, they search in the softened damp soil for earthworms and insect larvae. They nest among dead leaves or under bushes. They live in moist deciduous woodland and thickets near open fields. With colours adapted for the forest floor, woodcocks are nearly invisible. In their elaborate mating ritual, the male spirals to a great height, circles and, calling as he descends, plummets to the earth.
Sharpshinned hawks appear with more frequency.
I don't know whether they are returning migrants or ones that stayed the winter. It is very likely that blue jays and goldfinches who spent the breeding season to the north came here for the winter, while the ones we saw last summer moved south a bit for the cold season. Goldfinches, with plumage still a dull yellow, pick at the seed heads of last year's black-eyed Susan. Robins may migrate or stay the winter in local cedar bogs and swamps. In the yard, we see a small flock of robins eating the last of the crabapples, holly and other berries.