If you are a Woodcock, it would appear so!!
We had news this week of a recovered Woodcock and quite excitingly for me, it was one I had ringed. It was actually only my fourth ever self ringed Woodcock, back in November 2014 on farmland near my house, ring number EY80804. Shot dead in Nielles les Blequin, Pas de Calais, France, on 22 Nov 2015, almost a year to the day it was ringed.
This was uncannily similar to a recovery Rich Dobbins blogged about for the Teifi Ringing Group just before Christmas http://teifimarshbirds.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/woodcock-in-haute-saone-france.html concerning Woodcock EY33804 shot in Haute-Saone, France on 20 Dec 2015! So, it would appear that 804 isn't so lucky if you are a Woodcock, but slightly luckier if you are a ringer!
It has also helped provide a bit more of a clue as to where some of our Woodcock ended up rather than returning back to not so sunny Wales! As suggested by Rich, the mild wet weather may have caused a bit of a diversion?
Hopefully the colder spell will see a bit more movement our way in the next few weeks....
