Species Focus - Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola)

The November full moon, also known as the “Woodcock Moon”, appears on 24th November, and sees their faithful return to favoured fields. The Woodcock is a robust and rotund woodland wader, averaging around 300g. Its usually only seen when flushed from the leafy woodland floor - a blurry ghost of rusty browns but alive and memorable, prompting a pause and realisation of the moment. However, at dusk they move out from the cover of woodland to feed on open pasture, probing wet ground for earthworms. They may occasionally be seen by car headlights or by shining a torch over suitable ground.

There’s a small breeding population in Wales, but the UK and Irish winter population is thought to increase at least five-fold as birds move in from the continent. Ringing recoveries reveal useful data but records almost always come from either hunting or predation (often from Peregrines). There are a few Welsh-ringed individuals which have been shot far into Russia, whilst sometimes birds fall victim close to home. A bird ringed in November 2025 in the Conwy Valley was shot a few weeks later in Galway, Ireland, so was still on its way west. They are remarkably site faithful, as with many migrant species, and return to favoured breeding and wintering sites, even down to the same field.

Look out at dusk for their silhouettes as they fly out from woodland and remember to submit any sightings to Cofnod or the LERC Wales app.