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I would like to see everyone to start controlling the Grey Squirrel 
I think you will find that it is the Grey Squirrel eating the Woodcock's eggs 
That is the main reason for the decline of the Resident Woodcock 
and it would be a feather in the Gamekeeper's and Hunters cap if we could get the Woodcock back 

I Have a facebook group trying to sort out the Grey Squirrel problem if anyone wants to join 
 UK and Eire Squirrels The Grey Area 
5,300 members up to now
The Facebook Group for controlling Grey Squirrels 
Looking for people to start to get organized to cull all the Grey squirrels in the UK and Eire
So to totally remove the threat to the Native Red Squirrel 

Edited by Brendan Anderson
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For the last 15 years I have kept a diary of the amount of Woodcock I see on shoot days and I send this Information to the BTO at the end of the season.

I shoot in 3 different counties and this year the numbers I have seen are down, only one of the shoots I have been on allow the guns to shoot Woodcock and then only if you want to take it home.

Last year I recorded the most woodcock I have seen since I started to record there numbers so it might be a bad breeding season is to blame for this years poor numbers?

We do have a number of breeding Woodcock in our areas, I personally don't think they have declined that much, this spring i saw more than for a number of years, I thinks its the amount of migratory birds that have decreased this season?

 

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1 hour ago, reggiegun said:

Alright Paul mate, I have seen more wood cock this year on our shoot, than i have in 20 years

We haven’t shot our particular woodcock wood much this year, but when we do the woodcock are thick on the ground, 30/40 in a drive that’s only a few acre.

Last season was really good  for them too.

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On 14/01/2018 at 12:03, Brendan Anderson said:

I would like to see everyone to start controlling the Grey Squirrel 
I think you will find that it is the Grey Squirrel eating the Woodcock's eggs 
That is the main reason for the decline of the Resident Woodcock 
and it would be a feather in the Gamekeeper's and Hunters cap if we could get the Woodcock back 

I Have a facebook group trying to sort out the Grey Squirrel problem if anyone wants to join 
 UK and Eire Squirrels The Grey Area 
5,300 members up to now
The Facebook Group for controlling Grey Squirrels 
Looking for people to start to get organized to cull all the Grey squirrels in the UK and Eire
So to totally remove the threat to the Native Red Squirrel 

there is very little evidence to support the claim that Grey Squirrels are responsible for the egg thieving they are blamed for. Actually Corvids are far more common nest raiders. 

I'm not saying it's not a worthy cause but may I also point out that the red squirrel is also a rodent and as such just as inclined to rob nests as the grey squirrel? 

being ground nesting birds woodcock are also under threat from Hedgehogs, Badgers, Foxes, Stoats, Weasels etc etc. 

I wish you luck in eradicating the Grey squirrel I truly do but it's impact on woodcock numbers will be minimal. 

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11 hours ago, ClemFandango said:

there is very little evidence to support the claim that Grey Squirrels are responsible for the egg thieving they are blamed for. Actually Corvids are far more common nest raiders. 

I'm not saying it's not a worthy cause but may I also point out that the red squirrel is also a rodent and as such just as inclined to rob nests as the grey squirrel? 

being ground nesting birds woodcock are also under threat from Hedgehogs, Badgers, Foxes, Stoats, Weasels etc etc. 

I wish you luck in eradicating the Grey squirrel I truly do but it's impact on woodcock numbers will be minimal. 

Badgers are most definitely a big concern for all ground nesting birds, really is a shame their numbers can not be controlled better.

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14 hours ago, Paul223 said:

Badgers are most definitely a big concern for all ground nesting birds, really is a shame their numbers can not be controlled better.

very true.

 

and perhaps paradoxically they are a menace to Hedgehogs, I suspect in no small way contributing greatly to their decline, hedgehogs being another opportunistic predator of ground nesting birds. 

1 hour ago, sako751sg said:

True words and public enemy number 1 to anything on the ground.

Time something was done to keep numbers sensible.

and in the ground, they love to root out bumblebee nests. 

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On ‎1‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 19:44, ClemFandango said:

there is very little evidence to support the claim that Grey Squirrels are responsible for the egg thieving they are blamed for. Actually Corvids are far more common nest raiders. 

I'm not saying it's not a worthy cause but may I also point out that the red squirrel is also a rodent and as such just as inclined to rob nests as the grey squirrel? 

being ground nesting birds woodcock are also under threat from Hedgehogs, Badgers, Foxes, Stoats, Weasels etc etc. 

I wish you luck in eradicating the Grey squirrel I truly do but it's impact on woodcock numbers will be minimal. 

May be with all this technology that is about now we should be getting this evidence now 

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Back to woodcock - small shoot in Shropshire with fewer numbers this year and most people opting not to shoot them.  Only beaters day to go and not one woodcock shot yet...most seasons we would shoot about 6.  I often see a pair just after dusk fly up a stream between woods as I watch for teal flighting to a pool.  A beautiful sight.

Another local shoot I was guest on this week are not shooting woodcock.  Saw a couple and had one fly back down a woodside as I was walking gun.  Happily tipped my hat to it and watched it on its way.

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Had another day here - I was brushing - where we flushed 30+ out of a small wood. Also on beaters day I watched a dozen or more flush over end guns on one drive and none were shot. Is it perhaps the migratory patterns are changed? My cottage is between two woods and I see woodcock every day on early/late dog walks. I'm rather sceptical.

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51 minutes ago, norfolk dumpling said:

Had another day here - I was brushing - where we flushed 30+ out of a small wood. Also on beaters day I watched a dozen or more flush over end guns on one drive and none were shot. Is it perhaps the migratory patterns are changed? My cottage is between two woods and I see woodcock every day on early/late dog walks. I'm rather sceptical.

I find the trend now is less and less people are shooting Woodcock , in the past I have found if somebody fired at a Woodcock that seem a signal for everyone to start firing at them , where now if nobody fire at them the rest of the team are quite happy to leave them alone .

One place I go, there last full day was last Saturday and this season they didn't shoot one Woodcock , having said that we didn't see that many all season but enough for the odd one to end up in the bag if the gun had wanted to shoot one .

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