Scully Posted January 13, 2018 Report Share Posted January 13, 2018 We only saw two today, but both were cleanly killed and will be pate by next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Anderson Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 (edited) 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 January 14, 2018 by Brendan Anderson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 for the first year ever....i am yet to see a woodcock.................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arley Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted January 14, 2018 Report Share Posted January 14, 2018 We were out yesterday and only saw two neither were shot at, I would normally expect 8 - 10 birds in this area. Mind it was the wettest days shooting i have had in many years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk dumpling Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 We are seeing quite a few here in the Norfolk Broads area. Went beating on a shoot recently where 30+ were shot and guns took entire bag. A lot of snipe on wet (very!) fields but duck strangely absent from flight ponds etc although Waveney Marshes alive with geese and duck with big packs of teal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 Strong numbers here on the Crown Shoot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reggiegun Posted January 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 Alright Paul mate, I have seen more wood cock this year on our shoot, than i have in 20 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benthejockey Posted January 17, 2018 Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 I shot one here Monday afternoon. Possibly committed sacrilege but I breasted it and took the legs off, fried them quickly with a large knob of butter and had it sliced thinly on toast. It was the most delicious thing I’ve eaten in a long time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted January 17, 2018 Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell Posted January 17, 2018 Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 Was on an island off the west coast last week. Annual jaunt up there and we rose the usual numbers., probably 100 over 3 days and we shot 17.....!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonepark Posted January 17, 2018 Report Share Posted January 17, 2018 1 hour ago, Bell said: Was on an island off the west coast last week. Annual jaunt up there and we rose the usual numbers., probably 100 over 3 days and we shot 17.....!! Islay by any chance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell Posted January 18, 2018 Report Share Posted January 18, 2018 8 hours ago, Stonepark said: Islay by any chance? No!......but not far away!!.......used to go to Islay regularly shooting Mark pipers ground. Great numbers there but then found somewhere a little closer to home ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClemFandango Posted January 18, 2018 Report Share Posted January 18, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted January 19, 2018 Report Share Posted January 19, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted January 19, 2018 Report Share Posted January 19, 2018 12 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. True words and public enemy number 1 to anything on the ground. Time something was done to keep numbers sensible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted January 19, 2018 Report Share Posted January 19, 2018 6 minutes ago, sako751sg said: True words and public enemy number 1 to anything on the ground. Time something was done to keep numbers sensible. Sadly that will never happen. The anti lobby is just too strong and vocal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted January 19, 2018 Report Share Posted January 19, 2018 10 minutes ago, JDog said: Sadly that will never happen. The anti lobby is just too strong and vocal. True words too. Losing battle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClemFandango Posted January 19, 2018 Report Share Posted January 19, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk dumpling Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 I know we are getting away from woodcock but I hear badger cull to continue/be extended which must be correct. Not many in my part of the world but you would have to be very stupid not to see the damage these little 'thugs' do to the countryside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendan Anderson Posted January 25, 2018 Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShropshireSam Posted January 25, 2018 Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClemFandango Posted January 26, 2018 Report Share Posted January 26, 2018 13 hours ago, Brendan Anderson said: May be with all this technology that is about now we should be getting this evidence now That's the point. We aren't because their impact on nesting birds is minimal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk dumpling Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 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 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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