The Woodcock Network

500th Woodcock ringed

The Woodcock Network has just ringed its 500th woodcock after only two winters of ringing. With an excellent start this season we have already totalled 66 for the first couple of weeks. There has been a fantastic response to our programme from both the shooting and ringing communities and we have are recruiting new ringers right up and down the country.

We have just posted a pdf of our woodcock ageing guide for those wishing to join our nocturnal activities. We plan to print a more professional version shortly, but in the meantime we hope that this version will enable you to get started. We have also posted a 'general technique guide' on how to dazzle and lamp woodcock which you may find useful. We are constantly learning, so if you have any observations on how we can improve our catch rate, or are experiencing difficulty in catching please get in touch with me at wildscapes_2000@yahoo.co.uk. Success can vary from night to night and ambient light can be a problem in some areas of the country, please don't give up if it proves difficult, as only a few ringed on your site is an important contribution.

Finally, it is vital that all your biometric data is passed to the Woodcock Network at the end of the season. Please could you send this as an Excel file to myself at the email address mentioned above. This data will be of use to both ourselves and Dr Andrew Hoodless of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, who is our leading expert on woodcock ecology and migration and to whom this data will be forwarded.

Happy lamping!

17-Nov-2009

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