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By Professor Colin Trotman
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
In the first broadcast of the 2008-9 season, Professor Colin Trotman looks at the reasons behind late migration and the success of our native breeding woodcock
How the seasons come and go, and what a change we are experiencing. Weather-wise, this past summer can truly be described as dreadful. But what does this mean for our resident woodcock?
It is fortuitous that the woodcock’s main breeding activities are between April and June — though nests with eggs have been found in March — so the extremely wet weather in July and August came at a time when most activity had long finished. In fact, at four weeks old, woodcock have left the nest and are effectively self-sufficient. At five to six weeks they are fast approaching their adult weight of 250g-300g. The essential factor to this success is the availability of their favourite food — the earthworm. What are the best weather conditions for optimum survival rates, wet or dry? I would have thought that conditions are better suited towards wet. In wet weather, food is readily available at depths attainable for woodcock, whereas during prolonged periods of dry weather, earthworms and larvae burrow deeper. In recent years, this was the major influence on survival rates in north-west Russia, as drought conditions prevailed throughout May and June. The mortality rate for young woodcock increases significantly in such dry periods.
Survival of woodcock is also greatly enhanced by the wonderful camouflage they possess, which allows them to meld into the leaf litter and detritus of the forest floor. Less certain is at what age they are when they become completely free of the hen bird. After mating, the male woodcock plays no further part in the reproduction cycle.
England
In August, the Woodcock Broadcast’s most ardent respondent, headkeeper Mike Appleby, from Dorset, contacted me for an opinion on a sight that few people are fortunate to see: “On 18 August I saw a superb sight. I was driving across a pasture field at dusk when I saw a woodcock fly out of a wood. I watched it fly up and down in display fashion. It twirled around, landed, then got up again. From my left I saw three more woodcock flying about a metre off the ground. They headed for where the first woodcock was displaying and when they got there they dropped to the floor and the displaying one landed also. They all scurried around together and I watched them for 10 minutes before the light disappeared. Was it an adult taking her young out to feed? I couldn’t see any difference in size between them.”
What an opportunity that was! Is Mike correct in his interpretation of what was actually taking place? The only other plausible explanation is that this was a part of the mating display. However, this does not ring true, as the location was wrong, in that it was over a pasture field and not in or near a woodland ride or clearing. In addition, there is no mention of the displaying woodcock calling to the others. Roding woodcock utter a frog-like croak. From what Mike told me there was no sign of copulation either. When the other woodcock landed they simply scurried around.
In most years, woodcock produce a second clutch of eggs. However, I think Mike has got it right here. It would be a very successful male woodcock indeed to attract three females out from their woodland sanctuary across a pasture field. One thing is certain, they were intent on some activity on the pasture field. Like Mike, I think feeding was most likely.
Other respondents to the Broadcast have also been keeping their eyes open. Keeper Craig England, also in Dorset, disturbed a sitting woodcock, which jumped off her nest in a small spinney. He still had difficulty finding it and its three eggs within feet of him.
Wales
In Wales, keen woodcock observer Lyn Murley set out to prove that there were more resident woodcock than many people appreciated. Choosing suitable grazing pastures next to broadleaf woodland, Lyn’s belief was that, if there were resident woodcock, then sometime after dark they would be out feeding on nearby pastureland. We had discussed this at some length as a potentially effective method of identifying local woodcock populations.
Unfortunately, I could not accompany Lyn on his outings this year. However, the good news is that on 25 July he saw seven woodcock feeding across a five-acre patch of grazing ground. The location is of course top secret, under our control and not shot in winter for reasons of safety rather than misguided conservation purposes. Oliver West has been keeping his eyes open as well. On 2 August, he was surprised to flush a woodcock off a disused piece of industrial land close to a main road. I would guess this was someone else’s resident woodcock, which had moved away from its original nest site.
It is a well-known fact that UK resident birds fan out across the country in or around August. Later in the autumn they move further afield from Ireland to Scotland, from Wales to Scotland and vice-versa, mostly in a northerly direction, though some do go south and have been recovered in France, Spain and Portugal.
Later sightings
Oliver West and Lyn Murley, both of the Welsh Woodcock Club, recommenced their vigil of counting woodcock flighting at dusk on 26 September. Lyn has started his woodcock watching each year for the past seven years on this date. Thus it gives him a pattern of numbers seen as the autumn and then winter proceeds. Over the past seven years, by this time in October, he will have seen a couple of dozen woodcock at least flighting over the same strip of ground at dusk on their way to their feeding fields. By 17 October this year, he had not seen a single woodcock. Is that an ominous sign or not? While this is somewhat worrying, it does not immediately spell disaster. Some years the birds come in September even and in others they are later.
Migratory routes
During previous “normal” seasons, migration was usually under way by now, and one could safely say that the woodcock had at least left the breeding grounds in north-west Russia and Scandinavia. However, as readers of the Broadcast over the past seven years will by now know, we have been rather short of “normal” seasons since the new millennium kicked in. In 2005 and 2006, mild and warm weather patterns have kept the woodcock
in the forests of Russia up until December. In Sweden, while the birds moved to the coastal areas in readiness for their seasonal jump across to the British Isles, they stayed put in large numbers throughout January in 2004 and 2005.
Woodcock from further afield do in fact winter in the British Isles. Birds from the Ural mountains, an extensively afforested area which divides the west from the east, are usually on their way by the end of September. My French colleagues tell me these Ural woodcock are distinguishable by their darker colouration from that of woodcock from European Russia or Scandinavia. Likewise, woodcock from the other breeding regions in Finland, Norway, Sweden and European Russia should also be at least in transit. Climatic conditions must be conducive for full migration to take place. During the week commencing 13 October, temperatures in the Moscow region were mid-50ºF, but temperatures were predicted to drop by 20 October, with snowy showers. In Finland, Norway and Sweden, temperatures have been of a similar value with winds from the west and south-west.
The news from abroad
Woodcock enthusiasts in France have confirmed that it has been another good breeding season in central Russia and fair to good in north-west Russia. In Scandinavia during the same period (April to June) weather conditions were suitably warm and wet to produce good breeding results. Consequently, the ratio of juveniles to adults should be higher. Dr Yves Ferrand, of the French Game & Wildlife Department, predicts a good if not exceptional hunting season ahead. However, I will know for sure when the results of the French-Russian collaborative ringing programme are released later in October. This programme is not just about ringing woodcock. It also gathers data on age, condition and weight. Clearly, the age ratio of adult to juvenile is important as it gives us a good indication of reproductive success or otherwise.
The level of activity arising from the Woodcock Broadcast in relation to observing woodcock and their behaviour gives me much satisfaction. Therefore, I make no apology for repeating the fact that it adds to our wealth of knowledge in relation to the birds. However, there are two further facts I would bring to readers’ attention. The first is that, without the Broadcast, much of this information on woodcock and many of the sightings of unusual behaviour would largely go unreported. The second is that not enough people participate in the Broadcast. So please get in touch, no matter how trivial you think your information is. You will be acknowledged and thanked. Finally, give yourself some time to enjoy other aspects of this wonderful bird’s behaviour. Find a dusk flightline and marvel at their determination to get from roost to food in the shortest possible time. Some evenings they come like arrows and on others like moths as they slowly and assuredly make their way to the worming grounds. Keep a record of this time spent watching woodcock, record the
date, time and weather conditions. Try to start on the same date each season. If you know anyone who lamps foxes, try to get yourself invited along. You will frequently be amazed at the number of woodcock to be found feeding on favourable fields. Last, keep the exact location of these fields to yourself.
Keep us updated with all your news on woodcock, email the Shooting Times Woodcock Broadcast.
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