In his article ‘Ground Rules’ Jonathan Young states that he is ‘not in favour of GWCT’s advice in its entirety, that in order to protect the home-breeding population of woodcock we should only shoot them after 1 December, when birds bagged are more likely to be migrants’.
He justifies this by the claim that along most of the east coast of the UK and the Scottish Isles the first arrivals which occur on the full moon in November represent the only opportunity to shoot woodcock as they pass through. This is the case in a few locations, such as the Scottish Isles and parts of Kent, but it is not true of most of the east of the UK where significant numbers of migrants stay throughout the winter.
Alnwick, Holkham and Sandringham, for instance, have long recorded significant numbers of migrant woodcock remaining in their coverts throughout the winter. Data from bird observatories up and down the east coast of the UK show that, although the bulk of our woodcock migrants arrive in November, we receive successive waves of migrants from the continent into January.
It is encouraging that many shoots have now followed GWCT’s advice about a delayed start to the woodcock season where they breed. Dissenting voices published in leading countryside magazines, however, just add to the impression that shooters don’t listen to the science or heed guidance.
Dr Andrew Hoodless, GWCT
Owen Williams, The Woodcock Network