Last night, a very special bird put on a very special performance, to a wrapt audience. At 8pm, Mark, Head of Research at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, gave a talk on the incredible American Woodcock. This shy retiring wader is seldom seen by day, but emerges at dusk when there is only 2 candlepower of light in the sky. At this point the male begins his bizarre sky flying display. He starts on the ground out in the open, on this occasion right in the middle of the path in a small clearing, and begins calling a peculiar 'twok peent'. He does this for several minutes, before launching himself into the air. He climbs up rapidly in a series of spirals until he is a mere fluttering dot in the sky, and then freefalls back down to ground drifting from side to side like a falling leaf, landing back on the very spot where it all began. He'll repeat the whole process over and over again, until complete darkness falls, and all this display is intended to impress the females, as well as the small crowd of birders who'd signed up for last night's Woodcock Extravaganza, truly an appropriate name! It was one of the most bizarre and wonderful bird spectacles we've ever seen!Today, we led a guided bus tour round some of the closed areas of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, driven in style by Laura. Despite the tour beginning in the heart of the most violent thunderstorm, the weather soon improved and we enjoyed great birding. Just a few of the highlights included: Yellow-headed Blackbird, Blue-headed Vireo, nesting Cliff Swallows, close up and personal Bald Eagles, a family party of Muskrats, and of course, a good selection of warblers.We've posted some more photos on our Facebook page, so do look up our profile under Alan Davies to share some the delights of The Biggest Week in American Birding.