What was it?

A short while ago, Abbie stood transfixed by the back door, looking up on the hill. It doesn’t always follow that she’s staring at anything in particular, but I kinda figured there was some bird action up there. I followed her gaze upward to a tree on the hill and saw a medium sized bird, about the same size as a mourning dove, but clearly not a mourning dove.

The bird perched facing us, but it was too far away to see its features clearly. What stood out was its buff colored breast and belly. No other color, just a creamy buff color. And then it took off and flew over the deck in a zig-zaggy flight motion. What particularly stood out then were the rounded wings and the short stubby tail. A short stubby square-ish tail. Its shape and size are similar to an American Woodcock, but most of the photos I’ve seen of the woodcocks don’t show a bright creamy breast and belly. I’ve never seen a woodcock before, so I dunno. I can’t think of any other birds that have such a shape or that distinctive stubby square tail that would be around here. This would be about the right time for the woodcock’s southern migration, too. I really don’t know though. I wonder if it’ll ever come back.