Written by Christopher Heward, GWCT Head of Wetlands
The 2023 GWCT/BTO Breeding Woodcock Survey is a national census which occurs every ten years and is built upon the foundation of a large, representative sample of woodland sites.
Over 1200 survey sites across the UK have been allocated to volunteer surveyors, but coverage remains low in south-west Scotland and central Wales. This is understandable, as many of our randomly selected survey sites fall in hard-to-reach places. Improving coverage in these areas is important, however, as it will ensure that our findings accurately reflect all parts of the UK.
This is why I am asking GWCT supporters in south-west Scotland (in this case, DG, KA, and PA postcodes) and central Wales (SY and LD postcodes) for help. I would be grateful if you could please take a moment to visit the survey website and check whether there is a survey site near you. If so, I’d encourage you to consider surveying this site for us. Alternatively, you may know the landowner or someone else nearby; I’d be glad if you could make them aware of the survey and encourage them to take part.
A map showing the sites can be found on the BTO website here. The surveys are simple. They require two or three dusk visits to a suitable count-point within the specified square, from which you count displaying male woodcock over a 75-minute period.
We know that some of the sites are in strange locations. We have to survey a mixture of sites, both those where one would and would not expect to encounter woodcock. This provides a more representative snapshot of their national status.
Zero counts are just as valuable as positive encounters when assessing the species’ distribution. For a more detailed description of the method and its justification, please see my article in the most recent edition of Gamewise.