Woodcock
Scolopax rusticola
Woodcock
We saw a woodcock this morning (12th January 2020) behind the Loch Rannoch Lodges. There is nothing unusual about that at this time of the year because they come in winter and are found throughout the woods and on the roadsides where they perhaps seek grit and warmth.
They are what is termed games birds which means people shoot them - a great shame.
A woodcock is a bit like an overgrown snipe. It is brilliantly camouflaged for the woodland habitat, has a long beak for probing the soil for invertebrates and eyes at the side of its head so it can see all around. When it is disturbed it zigzags off through the trees but seldom goes far.
The males of the summer breeding population patrol their woodland territories flying round the perimeter at about 100 feet up and producing a curious croaking noise interspersed with high pitched calls. A good place to hear them Roding is at the Black Wood of Rannoch.
The females have been observed carrying the young when in flight, between their legs, body and tail.
In winter the British population is swelled by a large number of migrants which arrive from Russia and Northern Europe.
Woodcock migrate at night to avoid predators but now that there is so much light pollution above cities peregrine falcons have begun hunting at night because they can now see their prey. Woodcock as well as other waders have been turning up at the nests of urban peregrines.
As with so many of our British bird species the numbers of woodcock is declining.
Photo - Creative Commons - credit Jason Thompson