WoodcockCam

Another bonus from the trail cameras.  This time, pictures of woodcocks.  I had the impression I had seen more than usual this winter and the cameras have picked up these two in the past two weeks.

Woodcocks are very shy, beautifully camouflaged and crepuscular so if you see one at all it has seen you first and is usually flying away from you.

My impression of higher numbers this winter is borne out by the data in BirdTrack.  Here is 2021 (green line) compared with the long-term average for the British Isles (red).

And this is the same for Northumberland, with February 2021 numbers almost ten times higher than the average.

The woodcock is a British resident with perhaps about 50,000 breeding pairs but about 10 times more in winter, so most of these birds are visitors from northern Europe.  I once came across a woodcock nest in Teesdale.  These are the beautifully marked eggs.

I also once saw a woodcock in the garden but didn't get a photo.  It would get onto my garden list, if I had one!