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Where do all the woodcock go .....

I am hoping that someone can provide me with the answer to something which is perplexing me .... When I go out at night with the infra red night vision I am seeing large numbers of what I believe to be woodcock flying up in front of me ....I am saying that they are woodcock simply because of their "jizz" in monochrome ..... I am seeing anything from half a dozen to twenty or more of a night, but what bewilders me is that when I walk the same area in daylight, I never see one .... Does anyone else go out at night with night vision ??? The only other explanation which I can come up with is that these are passage migrants which simply stop overnight.

Best Wishes,
Bill.

Re: Where do all the woodcock go .....

Hello Bill,
I have often seen woodcock moving out of damp woodland areas at dusk, (approx. 30 minutes after sunset) to feed in more open places. I think this is normal behaviour. What you are finding is probably their nightly feeding area.

Re: Where do all the woodcock go .....

Bill as Sandra says you are likely encountering the birds in their nocturnal feeding areas. Usually they will feed in damp/soft areas of ground but locally to me they prefer to rest-up in drier areas not always in woodland,I have found them tucked away under solitary briar patches for instance or even larger clumps of grass and thistle. Some years back I watched up to 12 a night feeding
on the site of an old manure heap- croaking and sqabbling as they ate,but during the day- not a sign apart from beak marks in the mud!