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Ian Fulton | profile | all galleries >> Scottish Birds >> Woodcock tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Woodcock

(Eurasian Woodcock)
The Woodcock is a widespread resident throughout Scotland. It is also a common autumn migrant and winter visitor from more northerly areas. However it is a bird which is not seen all that often due to its secretive nature. The usual encounter with a Woodcock is when one explodes from almost under your footstep in some damp woodland area - I think the birder gets more of a fright than the bird does. During severe winter periods birds can often be found in more open locations as they forage for food, their long bill being of little help when the ground is frozen hard. During the exceptionally severe December of 2010 my friend John Anderson had several Woodcock daily in his garden in Crail, Fife. See https://pbase.com/crail_birder/woodcock .
The bird photographed here on North Ronaldsay was a tired migrant which had probably just flown across the North Sea. In the absence of any woodland on North Ronaldsay it was trying to conceal itself in some long grass. Digiscoped from the creaking wooden hide at the Gretchen Loch.
Woodcock, Gretchen Loch-North Ronaldsay, Orkney
Woodcock, Gretchen Loch-North Ronaldsay, Orkney
Woodcock, Gretchen Loch-North Ronaldsay, Orkney
Woodcock, Gretchen Loch-North Ronaldsay, Orkney
Woodcock, Gretchen Loch-North Ronaldsay, Orkney
Woodcock, Gretchen Loch-North Ronaldsay, Orkney
Woodcock, Gretchen Loch-North Ronaldsay, Orkney
Woodcock, Gretchen Loch-North Ronaldsay, Orkney
Woodcock, Gretchen Loch-North Ronaldsay, Orkney
Woodcock, Gretchen Loch-North Ronaldsay, Orkney