The Woodcock Network fitted the last of our 10 geo-locators to a woodcock last night. I had set myself the target of fitting them to re-traps as this shows a level of site fidelity which should increase the chances of catching them next winter and accessing the data. However the past week has been frustrating with almost constant foggy conditions making catching very difficult. Last night I caught a good sized un-ringed adult and fitted the final tag, amazingly this bird was a 'short bill' only 50mm but its weight showed that this was no impediment.
One thing I have noticed venturing out on foggy nights is that there are far fewer birds out on the fields in fog.... no I did check the fields thoroughly so they weren't hiding. On one night I saw only 3 woodcock and then on the same fields early the following night there were 16.
The GWCT website showing the movements of all 12 UK sat tagged woodcock (including the 2 we fitted in Wales) will be going live anytime day now. Check it out on www.woodcockwatch.com
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