This week, RSPB staff carried out ‘point counts’ at various locations across the reserve. This method of surveying involves counting species of birds seen and heard at randomly chosen points in a specified area for a set period of time (in our case five minutes at each point). The species identified at each point can then be compared over consecutive counts, seasons and years, if the same fixed routes are followed. The species we identified during our point counts included Willow Warbler, Chaffinch, Meadow Pipit, Lesser Redpoll, Curlew, Snipe, Red Grouse, Cuckoo and – a first for me – Woodcock! Some of the team are also heading out later this week to survey Woodcock specifically, so in this blog we are shining a spotlight in this bulky wading bird.
Woodcocks (Latin name: Scolopax rusticola) have short legs and a long, straight, tapering bill. Their mottled plumage means they are well camouflaged, hiding in the dense undergrowth of woodlands and heathlands, where they can probe the soil for earthworms and beetles to eat. They are also largely nocturnal, so seeing one in daylight hours during a morning point count was a real treat. Woodcocks are chunky birds, about the same size as a Pigeon, with short, greyish-pink legs and mostly brown feathers, with black and grey barring and broad, dark bars across their crown. They look similar to Snipes, but are larger and are more commonly found in woodlands, rather than grasslands and moorlands.
The breeding population of Woodcocks has declined in recent years, possibly due to conifer plantations becoming too mature for them to find enough open space for breeding. There are now 55,000 breeding pairs in the UK, with 1.4 million birds spending the winter here, travelling to the UK from Finland and Russia. They are classified as Red under the Birds of Conservation Concern and are protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Keep your eyes peeled for them while out walking, especially early in the morning or at dusk – you could be lucky enough to spot one, as we were, and see it flying off, zigzagging between the trees before dropping back into cover.