As the first really sharp weather hits Britain, our damp woods and field edges will be inundated by a vast influx of superbly-camouflaged immigrants. Arriving without paperwork or invitation, these East Europe refugees are welcomed by conservationists and sportsmen alike . . .
This is the annual woodcock ‘fall’ when millions of these challenging game birds flock to our shores to flee the harsh weather of a Continental winter. These small waders are in trouble over much of Britain, but have their winter strongholds in western Britain, when huge numbers arrive to probe our largely ice-free mud while their Siberian breeding grounds are locked solid.
While here, they live up to the image of illegal immigrant, skulking away from view. Their plumage is one of the greatest natural camouflages seen among our native birds, rivalled only by the nightjar. With the mottled patchwork of browns, beiges and blacks, the long-billed wader blends perfectly with the woodland floor of dead leaves – and it knows this, sitting tight until the last moment.
As a result they are normally almost impossible to spot, but they give themselves away when disturbed, taking to the air in a characteristic ‘jinking’ flight that has made them one of the most challenging targets for a rough shooter. The Victorians were particularly obsessed by the prospect. Indeed, the familiar cocker spaniel gets its name from the bird, for it was developed to flush them from its favoured haunts of alder-, willow-, hazel- and rhododendron thickets. Woodcock are also highly-prized in the kitchen, and are traditionally cooked, ungutted and with the head on, the beak used as a skewer to truss the bird.
Nowadays, if you catch sight on one hunting (and a spot lamp at night is the best way), their long straight bill betrays their wading links, as they probe for invertebrates in soft ground. Prey includes beetles, spiders, caterpillars, fly larvae and snails, although worms are the mainstay of their diet – up to 70% in winter.
Later there is a chink in the birds’ superb armour of camouflage. During the breeding season, ‘roding’ males patrol their breeding woods at dawn and dusk, flying slowly along regular routes. Sadly, while the birds are relatively frequent along the borders in harsh winter weather, they are less of a breeding species, retreating to the vast forests of Eastern Europe to replenish their numbers each summer. One reason may be because during roding they are particularly vulnerable to goshawk attack. This superb predator was once exterminated in Britain but is now mounting a come-back along the Marches and the predictable bouncing flight of a woodcock makes it easy pickings.
