Woodcock

BillN_33

BillN_33

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Bill
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anyone managed to take an image of a Woodcock .. I know that they are nocturnal birds .. do they just hide on the ground during the day ....... seems to be the case?

A few of the local hunters here in SW France were hunting them with dogs today in our small wood, (I never go in there!), and the adjoining woods .. the locals don't seem to care much were they go........ the bird seemed to be a prized "dish" out here
 
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:( poor woodcocks. I've never seen one...wish bloody hunters would leave them be so they can live their lives and other people could see them.
 
htid said:
:( poor woodcocks. I've never seen one...wish bloody hunters would leave them be so they can live their lives and other people could see them.
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Unfortunately that's impossible in France - we had dinner with 4 French couples on Saturday and one guy told me one of his favourite dishes were Robins, yes bloody little Robins

I told him my hobby was photographing birds ... he said his was eating them, .......... small birds like Robins get eaten almost whole .. all that gets removed are the feathers
 
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Yeah such a shame. I'm vegan so I would never condone that but it seems that France has a much lower respect for wildlife in general than England. I've been to the markets there and see the animals trapped in tiny cages, disgusting. Anyway ill stop as this is getting off topic! Hopefully somebody comes along with a woodcock pic!
 
Where's the pics? :thinking:
 
gramps said:
Where's the pics? :thinking:
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I'm waiting for someone to post - I'm seeing one of the "hunters" tomorrow ......... I'm going to ask him about them ........ I did not realise they were talking about Woodcocks as they kept mentioning "Bécasse" - then I looked the word up ........

I'm interested if anyone on here has ever been lucky enough to photograph one on the ground
 
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Talk Nature? (Just a suggestion as this is a critique forum) :)
 
Woodcock is eaten in the UK as well but the recipes seem a bit disgusting :eek:
Personally I haven't seen one to photograph, though they do seem to be well dispersed over here, with a couple of small areas excluded.
 
I saw one at the side of the road in the forest near Loch Garten on Monday and it made my day - I think I was more pleased with the Woodcock than the Cresties and Ptarmigan. Rubbish light and shot but considering I've only ever seen the rodding or flying to roost at dusk before I was very happy. DSC_1703.jpg
 
Actually just noticed that the RSPB have got the Woodcock listed as 'Red Status'.
 
Bill no pics here. My experience of Woodcock is they will have preferred sites where they lay up in the day,they also use regular flight lines out to feed at dusk. The flightlines will probably be of little use to us too late no light. But if you walked your wood systematically and they are there when you put one up mark as closely a possible where it took off. I'd go back to that spot and stay some distance away and then use binos or your lens to try and find one sitting. The go back to the same place over(at least within yards) and over if not disturbed too much Bill,but man this stunning bird is hard to see. Bill we used to live down south in Cornwall. In a hard winter they get pushed south and west by the ground freezing,feeding primarily on worms frozen ground means hard times. So being one of those folks that tend to lurk in woodland I've had the pleasure of meeting a few . Cornish "willow bottoms" as we used to call them can hold alot of them when the weather is harsh,the trees over head being a godsend to them, i'd imagine, by stopping the wet ground below freezing,so the little fellas can still feed.

Bill,there is a mind blowing sort after picture,that one day someone might finally take. There have been rumours for years about woodcock carrying their kids,to my knowledge never substantiated,but what if huh? Wonderful birds amongst the most stunning for me ,good luck mate, i'd love seeing some pics from you of them!!

Take care

Stu
 
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