A closer look at the veterans

Eight of the woodcock we are tracking this year were caught and tagged prior to 2015 – either in spring 2013 or spring 2014. This means we are currently following their outward migration for the second or third time.

Irena's journey

Three of these birds are already at the breeding sites they visited last year. These are:

Irina – who has travelled from Ireland to the exact same site in Norway in spring 2014 and 2015.

Wensum – who was tagged in Norfolk in spring 2013. Wensum has wintered in Germany the past two winters and has returned to the same wood in Finland each year.

St. Brendan – who flew from Ireland to Latvia in 2014 and 2015.

Unsurprisingly these three, who have already finished their migrations, are those who travel the shortest distances.

Knepp and Olwen are both pretty close to the breeding sites they have used in previous years (Finland and Russia respectively) and appear to be heading in the right direction. Nastasia also appears to be plotting the correct course but still has 500 or so km left to travel before she reaches her Russian breeding grounds.

Remy has not transmitted data for some time so we are unsure of her exact whereabouts. Assuming she is a) still alive and b) returning to the same breeding site she ought to be en route to eastern Latvia. The last we heard she was in Belgium, but that was on the 22nd March.

The final bird is Monkey III. Monkey III should be heading towards Western Russia by now. Last year he/she had arrived on his/her breeding site by 30th April. This year, however, Monkey III has not yet left the UK and is still sending regular and accurate data from Hampshire. This seems very strange – we didn’t expect birds to ‘opt out’ of migration! Either Monkey III is leaving it very late to leave or there is something wrong with him/her.

Whilst Monkey III appears to be alive and moving around on a regular basis, there may be an issue that is preventing him/her from achieving the condition required to migrate – perhaps the result of a parasite, illness or old injury.

Please help us continue our woodcock research

 

Monkey III first woodcock to return to UK

Monkey III is now back in the UK making him/her our first to return this winter. His/her current location is within 5 km of the location we caught and tagged him/her in March this year.

Monkey III was expected to be the first bird back – (s)he was the closest of our birds to Britain since arriving in the Netherlands on 11th November. Now (s)he has made the final hop across the North Sea and taken up a familiar wintering site in Hampshire.

His/her outward journey in spring, from Hampshire to Western Russia, saw him/her take a route that included a brief stop-over in Lincolnshire. It looks as though Monkey III did not make this stop on his/her return journey but we cannot be certain of this. (S)he may have called in briefly without pausing long enough for his/her tag to transmit from Lincolnshire.

Finally, to explain the question of Monkey III’s gender: sex in woodcock is determined by bill length. Males, on average, have shorter bills than females though there is an intermediate grey area where the ranges overlap. With a bill of 72mm, Monkey III fell within this region and so, unlike the majority of our other tagged birds, we cannot be certain of his/her sex.

Please help us continue our woodcock research

Latest November location updates - Amy, Monkey III, Nastasia & Rocky

Nearly half-way through November and several of our tagged woodcock are getting closer to returning to the UK including Monkey III, who had been silent for three months until we received an update on 11th November:

Monkey III is currently in the Netherlands after leaving Russia

Amy has flown through Belarus on her way back from Russia and is in Lithuania

Nastasia has passed through Latvia on her return and is now in Lithuania

Rocky is in Germany having stopped off in Poland on the journey back from Russia

Please help us continue our woodcock research

In order to find out more about these elusive birds we need to monitor more of them. Please help us tag more woodcock and continue our research. Click here to donate >

New chart shows latest Woodcock Watch data at a glance

Our woodcock are continuing their journeys across Europe and we've just received location updates for each of them.

The new chart below shows details for each bird and updates automatically on our website and blog as soon as we enter new data:

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New location updates for 13 woodcock

With our birds now on the move across Europe we've received a large number of new location updates over the weekend.

 

 

Amy - has moved east from Ireland through Germany and Poland and is now in Belarus.

 

BFC - travelled north-easterly from Wales to Lithuania and is currently in Latvia.

 

Jack - on the move east from Islay and now in Northumberland.

 

Knepp - has travelled nearly 2,500km to Finland, passing through Germany, Lithuania and Estonia.

 

Lanyon - currently in Belarus having left Cornwall at the end of February.

 

Monkey III - flew north from Hampshire to Yorkshire and has since flown east to northern Poland.

 

Olwen - currently in Latvia having stopped over in Denmark.

 

Rebecca - initially travelled south-easterly to Slovakia and then north-easterly to Russia.

 

Remy - now in Latvia after leaving Scotland and stopping over in Sweden and Lithuania.

 

Rocky - newly tagged bird now in Poland after leaving Cornwall and stopping in Germany.

 

Smithy - tagged this March in Somerset, Smithy has made it to central Poland.

 

St. Brendan - left Ireland at the end of March and is now in Latvia after stopping in Poland.

 

Wensum - having never made it back to the UK, Wensum has left Germany and returned to Finland.

11 exciting new location updates

We've received a large number of location updates including some exciting news from our newly tagged woodcock.

Amy - currently in Lithuania after leaving Ireland and stopping in Holland and Poland.

BFC - tagged in Wales this March, BFC is sponsored by the British Falconers Club and is currently in Latvia.

Knepp - another new bird, Knepp is sponsored by Knepp Castle Estate and has already made it to Russia having stopped in Germany and Poland.

Lanyon - currently in Belarus after leaving Cornwall in the middle of March.

Monkey III - newly tagged in Hampshire, Monkey III has headed north and is currently in Lincolnshire, perhaps on the way to Scandinavia.

Olwen - having left Yorkshire Olwen is currently in Latvia after stopping in Denmark.

Rebecca - left Wales in the middle of March and has made it to Russia, stopping in Slovakia en route.

Remy - left Scotland and flew east to Denmark and is currently in Latvia.

Rocky - newly tagged in Cornwall, Rocky flew east to Germany and is currently in Poland.

St. Brendan - having left Ireland in early March, St. Brendan flew to Poland and is now in Latvia.

Wensum - the bird that never returned, Wensum wintered in Germany and is currently in Denmark, possibly heading back to Finland.

Meet our new woodcock and track them online

After a very busy period of catching and tagging we're pleased to announce that our newly tagged woodcock are now online, meaning you can track their amazing journeys using our interactive map.

Our new woodcock



Charlie

BFC

Female, caught in West Wales on 4th March 2014.

Charlie

Caught in Islay, West Scotland on 20th March 2014.

Jack
 
Caught in Islay, West Scotland on 20th March 2014.

James

Male, caught in Wiltshire on 9th March 2014.

Monkey III

Knepp

Caught in Sussex on 8th March 2014.

Mara

Female, caught in Islay, West Scotland on 20th March 2014.


Monkey III
Caught in Hampshire on 18th March.

Quill

Female, caught in Durham on 19th March 2014.



Thorn

Rocky

Female, caught in Cornwall on 27th February 2014.

Smithy

Male, caught in Somerset on 3rd March.

Thorn

Male, caught in Lincolnshire on 6th March 2014.