Woodcock probing the leaves

The first,i hope of many more and closer woodcock pictures this winter.I first saw one in the second week of october but the early ones just pass through until the stayers can be seen regularly in areas from november onwards i think.They lie up in the daytime usually in deep cover found in all sorts of woods but the thick rhodedendrons like here suit them well.They flight at dusk from these places just before the duck do on the way to their nocturnal feeding grounds which they prefer to be dampish meadows but also downland grass fields and golf courses,mostly flying low a bit bat like.At some places they can be seen individually but in numbers of up to a dozen shooting over hedges and dropping,bomblike,out of the sky to feed on some favoured fields.Not often recorded is their probing in woodland leaf litter at night at a place where they could very likely be roosting(on the ground)during the day so pics like these are quite a catch of one of the most interesting of birds.It is quite probable that,just like duck,they do not always flight at dusk if their food is so close to hand,there is no point in exposing themselves,in flight,to unnecessary risk......

Deer of all shapes and sizes/trailcam

There has been up to 3 woodcock at a time at this camspot but only every few nights or so.There are also all sorts of deer of all shapes and sizes showing up like 2 different muntjac,4 different roe(3 at the same time) and these 4,fuzzy,fallow as well as other fallow i,ve not counted yet or got an idea from identification.Not a single badger or hare and infrequently a fox, a kill site from 1 of a rabbit i found not that far away from the cam.Rabbits are here but not in great numbers but mice are,there are alot of them about......

Woodcock probing through the snow/trailcam

In the top picture the woodcock is feeding at 10.22am which is unusual as they usually only feed at night.They spend the days motionless on the woodland floor camaflaged perfectly amongst the leaves(when there,s no snow) and flight to the feeding grounds like damp pastures halfway through dusk so their predators like Perigrine falcons will have less chance of catching them.I spose the snow and frozen ground has forced them in daylight as well to feed........

1 then 2 woodcock/trailcam

Ist 1 woodcock then another showed up in front of the trailcam,i knew they fed near to each other occasionally but never this close thinking they were mostly solitary.They do love this sort of habitat though,mixed woods with a decent but openish understory of things like rhodedendrons or holly.........