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 IV, Wensum and Doc on the move

Another day, another set of Woodcock Watch location updates!

Monkey IV: we've received some great data from Monkey IV over the past few days. Having left Norfolk on 25th March s(he) was in Poland by the 27th and then left Poland on the 28th, crossing the Russian border yesterday.

Wensum: has made the final push from Sweden into Finland over the Baltic. She's now close to the summering area she used last year. Great progress.

Doc: was tagged in Southern Ireland this spring and left on the 28th March over Ardmore Bay, Co. Waterford. By the 31st s(he) was in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Please help us continue our woodcock research

 

Location update for Wensum, Penning and Monkey IV

We've received a number of location updates over the weekend:

Wensum, who was caught in Norfolk in 2013, normally winters in Germany and summers in Finland. This weekend she's flown Germany to Sweden.

Monkey IV is the latest bird to leave the UK. Tagged in Norfolk this winter, (s)he has made it as far as northern Poland.

Penning is in central Poland having been tagged in Wiltshire at the end of February.

Please help us continue our woodcock research

 

First Woodcock Watch location updates for September

We've received our first location updates for September from a number of our tagged woodcock.

Amy, Knepp, Lanyon, Remy, Rocky, Smithy, St Brendan and Wensum have all sent data.

In St Brendan's case it is the first update we have received since 10th June. Still in Latvia, St Brendan has covered over 2,300km since leaving Ireland at the end of March.

 

Woodcock Watch Location Data

 

Click here to view location data for each of our tagged woodcock.

 

Clear evidence of breeding site fidelity in woodcock

I know we’re constantly talking about site fidelity – but it’s interesting especially when demonstrated so clearly as it is in the maps below (click to enlarge them). It’s obvious that these birds repeatedly return to the same areas to breed – which has conservation implications for the areas where the largest concentrations reside.

As for the question as to why Crugith has not been so faithful– we think she must’ve picked up some sort of injury, disease or parasite that has prevented her from reaching the desired level of fitness. There are no breeding birds in Cornwall so it is impossible that she is breeding there – she’s just sitting out the summer because she could not attain the condition required to return to Siberia. She is still alive as her movement appears to be normal, but there must be some underlying health issue.

It's worth noting that of the birds featured in the maps below, Remy, Amy, Rebecca, Lanyon, Wensum are all females. St. Brendan and Olwen are both of an unknown sex so could also be females. So the site fidelity we are seeing is definitely true of females but we don’t have any data for males – at least not in 2014. Last year, however, we had Monkey - a male who travelled to exactly the same site in 2013 as he did in 2012.

Amy

St. Brendan

Crugith

Lanyon

Olwen

Remy

Wensum

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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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Busy Easter period sees flurry of woodcock activity

Our woodcock were very active over the Easter period with many of them on the move across Europe.

 

 

Location updates

 

Amy - in western Russia after leaving Ireland and stopping over in Holland, Poland and Belarus.

 

BFC - has made it to Russia after leaving Wales and stopping in Lithuania and Latvia.

 

Jack - following stops in Denmark and Estonia, Jack has arrived in Russia after leaving Scotland.

 

James - left Wiltshire and has travelled north east through Poland and Latvia to reach Russia.

 

Knepp - currently in Finland after leaving Sussex and arriving via Germany and Estonia.

 

Lanyon - has flown into Russia from Cornwall after stopping off in Belarus.

 

Olwen - currently in north west Russia after stopping in Denmark and Latvia.

 

Rebecca - flew south east from Wales to Slovakia and then north east into Russia.

 

Remy - left Scotland for Denmark and now currently in Latvia.

 

Rocky - has flown from Cornwall to Russia via Germany and Poland.

 

Smithy - left Bristol for Poland before flying north east to Russia via Belarus.

 

St Brendan - flew east from Ireland to Poland and has since moved north east to Latvia.

 

Wensum - having never returned to the UK, Wensum has revisited Finland from Germany.

 

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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.

Location Update: Wensum returns to favourite spot in Germany

New data from Wensum shows she's currently in Lower Saxony in Germany, very close to where she stopped over on her journey back west. The map below shows her current location in relation to where she stopped in January. The data we have for Wensum indicates that she never returned to the UK, getting as far as the north west of Holland before turning back.

It's possible that Wensum usually winters in Germany. We caught her in Norfolk during cold weather last year and she may only have been in East Anglia briefly whilst conditions were harsher on the continent.

 

 

Location Update - Wensum back in Germany

We've received an interesting update on Wensum's progress. It seems she's flown east and returned to Germany following a brief stay in Holland.

Follow Wensum's journey here >

Wensum moves west into the Netherlands

We've received a location update for Wensum. She's moved west from Germany into the Netherlands.

Having left Norfolk on 18th March 2013 she has now covered over 4,500km on her journey.

More findings from Wensum's journey

The map below shows how close Wensum is to the sites she visited during her outward migration in Spring:

Click here to sponsor Wensum >

A Finnish Woodcock, Caught in Norfolk, Wintering in Germany

Until today, we had not heard from Wensum since the 26th October. Back then, she was recorded spending time in southern Sweden, assumedly on her way back from her summer home in Finland to Norfolk where she was tagged last winter. But new data received today place Wensum in northern Germany on the 19th January 2014.

We had expected to see most of the woodcock returning to the same winter sites year on year. This is certainly the pattern shown by other woodcock that we have studied with satellite-tags or geolocators in the past. Yet Wensum has not conformed to this pattern.

Olwen is the only other bird we are hearing from regularly at the moment. Just like Wensum (s)he has bucked the trend and instead of returning to her tagging site in Wales has only made it as far back as East Yorkshire. So why are this year’s birds not choosing not returning to their 12/13 wintering grounds?

It seems likely that the milder winter weather has a lot to do with it. In extremely cold conditions more birds are pushed into the UK, particularly the South and West, where temperatures are kept comparatively clement by the warm gulf stream. In a mild winter, like this one, the pressure to perform such long migrations is lessened; without the push of cold conditions it makes little sense to fly any further than necessary. Until recently the temperature in northern Germany where Wensum is currently wintering has hovered above the 0°C mark meaning it is warm enough for woodcock to feed in unfrozen soil.

This does beg the question though: does Wensum usually winter in Germany, but happened to be in Norfolk last year due to an unusually cold February 2013? Or does she usually winter in Norfolk, but has stayed in Germany this year due to a mild winter 13/14?

Interestingly the weather has just taken a turn for the worse in Germany, and forecasts seem to predict that it will get colder still in the coming months. This may mean that Wensum is forced to move further; but will it be to Norfolk?

Wensum wintering in Germany

We've received a data update for Wensum. It seems having left Norfolk in March last year she's now wintering in Lower Saxony in Germany. So far she has covered over 4,200km.

Latest Woodcock Location Updates

Crugith is on the move again - she's passed Russia and is now on the Belarusian/Polish border:

Wensum has started her migration now. She's crossed the Baltic and is taking a break in Southern Sweden: