Methods for Doing the Survey

• Before carrying out survey work, please read our Health and Safety statement. 

Timing of Visits

You will need to pay:

• 3 visits to your count point
• at dusk
• at least one week apart
• between 1^st May and 30th June.

Note, if no woodcock are recorded on the first two of these dusk visits, there is no need to make the third visit.

Avoid surveys on evenings that are wet or windy. Please check the weather forecast and sunset times before survey!

Visit Time and Count Duration

The count duration is 75 minutes. Counts should commence 15 minutes before sunset and finish 60 minutes after sunset, giving a total survey duration of 75 minutes. Please don’t do less or more than this 75 minutes.

What to Record

Many observers will be more familiar with woodcock in winter than in summer. Before completing your survey, please familiarise yourself with the calls of roding males and what roding males look like in flight (see online calls and videos below).

It is important that each flypast is recorded as a separate event, even if they occur in quick succession. Sometimes more than one Woodcock may fly by together. The number of individuals in the flypast should be recorded.

Please count all woodcock that you see and hear during the 75 minute count and record the following information:

1. your location
2. date
3. weather conditions at time of survey (dry / wet / windy / not windy)
4. time at beginning of survey
5. number of woodcock seen (in flight)
6. number of woodcock heard
7. number of woodcock seen and heard (when you see and hear a bird at the same time)
8. time at end of survey
9. type of woodland (broadleaved / coniferous / mixed)

It is recommended that all observers obtain permission to cross any private land and follow any Health and Safety Guidelines.

Before fieldwork, become familiar with calls and flights!

It is essential to become familiar with the calls made by Woodcock before commencing your survey. Below are the main calls likely to be encountered. Click on each to hear a recording.

1. Whistle calls
2. Whistle & Grunt calls
3. Two males interacting

The call from an individual bird consists of several low-pitched grunts followed by a high-pitched whistle. The grunts can be difficult to hear at times, and from a distance, all that may be heard is the whistle call repeated every few seconds.

Please proceed to Step 3 to submit your survey results.