woodcocks.

[rossy]

read a article in the local paper today, and the chap who writes about the birds, quoted that around 10,000 woodcocks breed in britain, but what i found astonishing was that around 800,000 migrate into britain from the continent, therefore thought id put this up as , your more than likely to get one in the garden, as the weather is so bad, normally they are hard to spot as they are so well camouflaged, and feed at night, but in the snow good chance you may see one, rossy.

[Deb London]

Thanks Rossy. I would love to see one of these. It fascinates me to think that they fly over London at night. I think it was Autumnwatch that had a feature on Peregrines in the city. They found the remains of a Woodcock in a Peregrine's nest or something. The city lights were thought to have been reflected by the bird as it migrated, so it was visible to the BOP even though the sky was dark. Wow.

[rossy]

yes deb, this is what concerns me , as they fly by night, when they make their migration, what if their route is where they put the windfarms scary thought, rossy.

[FUDGEY]

My patch is poluted with them at the moment, great birds to see. I hope they put a ban on shooting them again this year seeing as conditions are much the same as last time. I heard a shooting party shot 27 in one drive at the weekend. Its just not sport.

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by rossy

yes deb, this is what concerns me , as they fly by night, when they make their migration, what if their route is where they put the windfarms scary thought, rossy.

Shooters are more of a problem for Woodcock than any windfarm. Open season on Woodcock commences in September (Scotland) and October and runs right through 'til end of January. It's big big business in Scotland, Wales and England.

The EU management plan for Woodcock shooting has led to a voluntary ban on non shooting estates - including those owned by the Forestry Commission in South East England:

Is woodcock shooting going to be banned? | Sporting Gun

Migratory Woodcock tend to arrive in Scotland with large numbers then moving down the West Coast from Scotland through Wales/Devon/Cornwall (ie they migrate from Russia/Scandinavia) and it will be mostly Woodcock from these populations that will be shot in Scotland but unfortunately there doesn't appear to be any BBS on our resident breeders so it's not known exactly the impact this is having on uk birds as wintering grounds for both overlap (200,000 1982 shot and if you look at the link below on the gamebag concensus, it's been higher than that in recent years so impact on declining populations in the UK could be more significant). As far as I'm aware, the shooting season begins before the migration movement so there will surely be residents birds amongst the bags - Our resident populations are declining significantly and I think it will probably be these, subject to cold weather movements, and those continuing on passage to continental Europe that are seen in gardens etc Woodcock in the UK also move from their breeding grounds to more open marshy lowland having less dependence on forested areas this time of year.

Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust - National Gamebag Census

http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/IWSGB/v...050-p00052.pdf

[rossy]

yes fudgey i hope they do put a ban on, as its the birds have nowhere to hide, in snowy weather and are easy targets ,thanks for putting up the info picadae, as i dont think a lot of people are aware of whats going on, i must admit i didnt, rossy.

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by rossy

yes fudgey i hope they do put a ban on, as its the birds have nowhere to hide, in snowy weather and are easy targets ,thanks for putting up the info picadae, as i dont think a lot of people are aware of whats going on, i must admit i didnt, rossy.

I don't think that the FC ban that Picadie has linked in his post has anything to do with the snow and freezing conditions - it is a ban on the shooting in certain areas regardless of conditions.

Woodcock are covered by the voluntary & statutory bans on shooting that come into place after 7 (voluntary), or 14 (statutory), days of consecutive freezing weather. At present voluntary suspension of shooting applies in the whole of the UK, statutory suspension comes in to force on Dec 9th (Northern Ireland), 10th (Scotland), and 14th (England & Wales) if freezing conditions continue: British Associate for Shooting & Conservation

[faz]

saw a woodcock today while driving

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Deb London

Thanks Rossy. I would love to see one of these. It fascinates me to think that they fly over London at night. I think it was Autumnwatch that had a feature on Peregrines in the city. They found the remains of a Woodcock in a Peregrine's nest or something. The city lights were thought to have been reflected by the bird as it migrated, so it was visible to the BOP even though the sky was dark. Wow.

There was another occurrence like this c 3weeks ago- a juv Peregrine had taken to perching on a church in Ealing Broadway + the head + wings of a Woodcock were found down below.

[Deb London]

Really? Might be the closest I come to spotting one.