I was up at 2am this morning and it was cloudless with good moonlight and a hard frost. Under the living room window there three woodcock on the lawn, every minute or so one of them would hop a foot or two and pick something off the surface (they weren't sticking their bills down into the grass). I'd never have thought that anything would be crawling about on a frosted lawn in December but they were obviously finding something. They were still there at 7am but have retreated to cover now the light is coming up.
Strange one that Andy, but fortunate to see such lovely and mysterious birds so close up.
Perhaps the soil under the frost was still soft enough for worms to be present?
S.
It just goes to show life still goes on even when it looks frozen to us. They were there again last night, I'd like to get a picture of them but there is no hope of getting anywhere near them, put a torch on them and they are off!
Had a woodcock in the car headlights a few weeks ago. It was a single track road so I stopped. It stood in the road and did not move for over a minute, I had to move the car to make it move.
That is a surprise. If you made me guess I would have punted at 50,000.
I've a resident cock pheasant in the garden, it first came a couple of weeks ago and flew off whenever I went to feed the hens, now it has a stroll out of my way and waits for a scoop of corn
There was also a hedgehog wondering around today, so I dug some worms for the little chap and when I walked back after collecting the eggs both he/she and the worms had gone.
Population
Woodcock is a widespread breeding bird in Britain and Ireland that is adapted to both deciduous and coniferous forest. In autumn there is an influx from the Continent, outnumbering the British and Irish population 5 to 1. During winter, it is estimated that up to 1.5 million individuals may be present in Britain and Ireland; mostly originating from northern Europe and western Russia.
The numbers migrating here are surprisingly dependent on wind. Strong easterlies make the migration much easier and many more survive the journey. Strong westerlies can kill large numbers as they cross the North Sea. They also migrate to the same areas every year and can be surprisingly long lived. The G&WT has some excellent stuff on them from radio tracking, worth a look.
Bird flu's taking its toll on migrating birds, I saw some photos of Barnacle Geese corpses washed up at Barrow, 700 birds, some literally dropping from the sky apparently , an unprecedented event according to the RSPB.
Presumably woodcock are prone to the same pressures from the disease.
Bird flu's taking its toll on migrating birds, I saw some photos of Barnacle Geese corpses washed up at Barrow, 700 birds, some literally dropping from the sky apparently , an unprecedented event according to the RSPB.
Presumably woodcock are prone to the same pressures from the disease.
Theres dead puffins washed up on Shetland and Orkneys, oh my chickens are still locked up and laying better than ever, I wish I had some egg boxes
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