Woodcock

With the snow confined to the hills and long gone from the land along the coasts, there are signs that the cold weather is coming to an end. The biting southeaster that has been harassing us for the last three days has moderated, and the wind come more into the south. Warm rain, coming in from the west, is forecast for tonight. Some birds, particularly the small ones in our garden, will be relieved by this news, but there are others which might not be so pleased.

We've noticed that, walking anywhere around Kilchoan, we've been putting up unusually large numbers of woodcock. They also have a habit of sitting on or beside roads at night, taking off in front of the car suddenly and vertically, usually at the last minute, sometimes with fatal consequences. This morning alone, walking along the Ormsaigbeg road, we put up three, one of which became entangled in brambles.

Ricky Clarke, who lives in the village and has worked for the RSPB, tells us that woodcock and other shore birds have been driven to areas like this by the severe winter weather inland and on the continent. Their plight has been so bad that the government, for the first time in 13 years, has issued a temporary ban on the shooting of wildfowl, as reported by the BBC here. The ban usually lasts for an initial period of fourteen days, but can be extended. Ricky also explains the woodcock's habit of sitting by roads: the vibrations of passing cars drive worms to the surface where, with the ground so hard, they can be more easily caught.

Woodcock are a medium sized, striped brown bird with a long bill. That they fly fast and low, and zig-zag as they go, makes them a popular quarry for the wildfowlers who come to shoot on Ardnamurchan Estate, particularly the Italians.