Date: 2/28/26 7:10 am From: Anita Schnee <000003224553d416-dmarc-request...> Subject: Left Holding the Bag
Josh Brown and I resumed our seats last evening for the Woodcock Ballet at Shorebird Stopover, East Fayetteville.
Again no dice.
So that left Josh and me plenty of time to discuss woodcocks and snipes and the like, of which the latter Josh saw 10 yesterday. Somebody Josh met the other day still thought snipes don't exist as a thing.
That made me wonder whether the expression "left holding the bag" might have originated with snipes. Google U confirms, citing Safire's Political Dictionary: "a snipe hunt is an elaborate practical joke in which the victim is left in a lonely field at night holding a sack and a tennis racket, one origin of the phrase 'left holding the bag.'" Google U also cited other non-birdy origins, in which the least-bright member of a criminal gang was left holding the swag while the smarter ones decamped -- but of course we in our circle will elect the bird version.
Rain is coming, fingers crossed. We intend to try again after. It's been suggested that with the earth so dry, woodcocks can't drill down to the worms. I wondered, though: if snipes and woodcocks are so similar, wouldn't we might see woodcocks in what seems to be an otherwise-ideal setting? If the snipes are happy to feed on the nearby mud flats?
Best I could come up with is -- birds will be birds. Mud flats are not moist forest floors, and so, woodcocks, you just do you. Mud between the toes? Euuw.
Other humans more expert and with time on their hands, please clarify.
In the meantime, let's see if the rain theory will moisten up the field for the worms, and Woodcock Ballet retake the empty stage. Baryshnikov Bird, I, your fan-girl, await in the wings. Your tights are laundered and ready.
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
