Naming Woodcock Wood
by Chris Saunders, 13 June, 2018, 2 comments
We made our way along a narrow track, through young birch and old chestnut coppice. It had been recently cut to mark the boundary between our wood and the next. Down a muddy bank and into thick bramble that marks the beginning of the stands of old pine. There was plenty of water flowing in the stream in February. It came up out of the bramble, a partridge like bird with a flash of russet brown. What was clear was the immensely long beak. It had to be a woodcock. It was a bird that was new to me. I checked it out at home. Yes, the perfect conditions for this shy bird. Read more...