Breeding Woodcock Survey - Can you help?

The Woodcock is one of our my most mysterious breeding birds. Unlike other waders, it specialises in breeding in woodland and shuns the open ground favoured by lapwing, snipe and redshank. Unfortunately, like those species, it has suffered steep declines and is now no longer found in most places where they once were. But, because they are highly camouflaged and difficult to find, we don't know very much about where they are now found, or how many there are.
This survey aims to establish the range and abundance of breeding woodcock all across Ireland based on counts of 'roding' woodcock. Roding flights are the noisy display flights over the woodland canopy undertaken by males at dusk and dawn to display to females. This is when they are at their most conspicuous and a count of displaying males in May and June gives a reliable indication of the breeding population of the area. The surveys are easy - most anybody can do them. It is magical to experience a number of displaying male woodcock with their strange grunting and whistling calls in the gathering dusk. In addition, there's always plenty of other wildlife to encounter in the twilight woodland. It's a pleasant and easygoing way to spend a few summer evenings while contributing strongly to our knowledge of breeding woodcock in Northern Ireland. For more information and instructions on how to do the survey and submit records, and to select your woodland sites to survey, please follow the link

http://ornithology.ucc.ie/current-projects/ecology-cryptic-game-species-woodcock-phd-project/breeding-woodcock-survey/

In addition, all records of woodcock seen in spring and summer, including roding males, females on nests, or broods of chicks, are of great interest as they will help build up an idea of the range of breeding woodcock in Northern Ireland.

Please email any sightings you may have to jamesboneill@umail.ucc.ie, or log them with CEDaR (NI) or the National Biodiversity Data Centre (ROI).