Had a rough day today and it was good to see a nice lot of woodcock about again. This is only the second time this year that we've seen a nice few and i think the first batch were passing through as they were there one minute and not the the next.

Some years ago whilst sitting in the dentist waiting room I was scanning through one of the many magazines on offer and read an article, which stated that adult woodcock when disturbed would actually carry their still flightless young to safety, is this fact or pure fallacy?

I have heard this so many times by older keepering colleagues of mine but have never seen it for myself. I have only been doing the job for about 25 years so theres still plenty of time yet. I have had the opportunity to see some rare sites but not this one yet.