Woodcock
I have seen a Woodcock a few times recently while on my daily cycle ride, all in a similar area, but each time it has flown off before I got chance to get a good look at it. So this afternoon I decided to take a walk in this area with my wife. Unbelievably I managed to spot it and photograph it without flushing it, which is a very rare event in my lifetime's experience of trying to watch Woodcocks. It took me years to even get a decent look at a Woodcock, and many more years before I managed a half-decent photo. Most of my sightings have been of "roding" males during their dusk display flights. This one never moved, so I cannot upload any different views of it, apart from a more distant view showing the wider environment. But I was pleased I managed to get a low point of view for this secretive bird. It was still present when we left it but wasn't there when we returned about an hour later.
Because of their secretive nature Woodcocks are really difficult to survey but it has been placed on the Red List because of a >50% breeding range contraction from 1968-72 to 2008-11. They are usually recorded as probable breeding if males are seen roding. But a >50% range contraction means that more than half of the 10km squares that recorded Woodcock in 1968, no longer held Woodcock in 2011. This will probably mean an even greater population decline (cf range contraction) because many of these 10km squares would have held many breeding pairs.
Woodcock
I have seen a Woodcock a few times recently while on my daily cycle ride, all in a similar area, but each time it has flown off before I got chance to get a good look at it. So this afternoon I decided to take a walk in this area with my wife. Unbelievably I managed to spot it and photograph it without flushing it, which is a very rare event in my lifetime's experience of trying to watch Woodcocks. It took me years to even get a decent look at a Woodcock, and many more years before I managed a half-decent photo. Most of my sightings have been of "roding" males during their dusk display flights. This one never moved, so I cannot upload any different views of it, apart from a more distant view showing the wider environment. But I was pleased I managed to get a low point of view for this secretive bird. It was still present when we left it but wasn't there when we returned about an hour later.
Because of their secretive nature Woodcocks are really difficult to survey but it has been placed on the Red List because of a >50% breeding range contraction from 1968-72 to 2008-11. They are usually recorded as probable breeding if males are seen roding. But a >50% range contraction means that more than half of the 10km squares that recorded Woodcock in 1968, no longer held Woodcock in 2011. This will probably mean an even greater population decline (cf range contraction) because many of these 10km squares would have held many breeding pairs.