A WOODCOCK NETWORK SECOND!

On Sunday night Owen Williams, Manuel Hinge and myself headed down to my Woodcock site near the Crychan Forest to try and catch a suitable candidate to fit another satellite tag to. Andrew Hoodless at the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, who are funding the tags, stipulated that it should be a larger juvenile of good weight. About twenty birds were seen in all but they were all pretty flighty. With me still nursing a bad arm the catching responsibility fell into the capable hands of Owen. First bird caught was an un-ringed adult - not suitable. Luckily the second bird was a re-trap juvenile (originally ringed on 23rd Dec 2011) with a wing of 210 and a weight of 338g - absolutely spot-on!

Very much looking forward to following this bird back to its summer haunts in the Boreal forests of Russia or Scandinavia. It should head off sometime in the next couple of weeks. Will be posting a link in the near future.