Woodcock .

[jmac]

They usually arrive here at the first full moon of November. But they were here at the end of october! 

[spuddog0507]

2 hours ago, Stubby said:

Personally I would never shoot another Woodcock ever again .  Must have shot , maybe a dozen in my life .  Got some pin feathers somewhere , but is just a beautiful , wild bird . Most coming from Russia and Finland to winter over here . We do have resident birds but how you tell one from another I would not know . 

yes same here i wont shoot another one again unless they get back up in to decent numbers, didnt shoot any last year just let em all go past, some shoots up here have impossed some heafty finds for shooting woodcock one shoot has set it at a grand donated to charity for shooting woodcock and this shoot used to have a couple of just woodcock days 20/25 years ago with 100 bird bags regular but not now.

[Mark Bolam]

Same as Stubby and Spuddog here, I wouldn’t shoot another.

Beautiful birds.

Does seem early, and it’s still very mild.

[Stubby]

Just now, Mark Bolam said:

Same as Stubby and Spuddog here, I wouldn’t shoot another.

Beautiful birds.

Does seem early, and it’s still very mild.

Yea . Maybe it was a resident . Who knows ?

[Lazurus]

Had several put up during drives on our shoot yesterday. Thankfully the landowner had laid the law down to the guns and they all went on there way unharmed. Comments were made they were here early.

[jmac]

Still plenty of woodcock in Argyll. Seems a shame to shoot them after they have travelled all the way from Russia though.

[Baldbloke]

Correct, as some have already said that some are resident, and some begin a migration to here during late October through November by usually using moonlight and favourable winds for their journey. As they need to use their beaks to get into the soil for food, our winter climate is preferable to where they have come from which can be frozen up over winter.

I used to be a fishing ghillie up here in Scotland and saw resident birds roding (?) during the summer. It appeared to be birds following a flying circuit of their preferred area, or perhaps it was male birds advertising for a mate or ensuring other males didn't trespass. 

30 odd years ago I did a couple of years in the oil industry and it was fairly common at this time of year to see exhausted woodcock and other birds drawn to the platforms lights and taking a rest. You wonder how many get too exhausted due to wind change or just getting lost and falling into the sea.

I don't shoot them either now, although in the past with numerous numbers a left and right was common. Never applied for the tie though.   

The oddest sight I ever saw was a lone stork in Angus Scotland after heavy winds. It flew at an altitude that a heron could only dream of. Another oddity was several thousand pink flamingos in Forfar loch maybe 20 years ago. God knows where they came from!

Edited November 11, 2018 by Baldbloke

[eggsarascal]

The last shoot I used to beat on was strictly no ground game, and no Woodcock.

[Baldbloke]

1 minute ago, eggsarascal said:

The last shoot I used to beat on was strictly no ground game, and no Woodcock.

To save the birds or to save the beaters??

[eggsarascal]

2 minutes ago, Baldbloke said:

To save the birds or to save the beaters??

Probably a bit of both. The keeper, although I got on well with him was a hard task master, he didn't suffer fools gladly.