Snow Tracking: Woodcock

On another walk through the winter woods I startled a woodcock from its cover in a conifer plantation. My friend had told me that he had seen one in the woods earlier in the week when walking his dogs but this individual was hold up on the woodland floor beneath mature sitka spruce. When the woodcock flew off in alarm I turned to see what signs it had left.This particular part of the wood is prone to flooding and the furrows between the rows of trees often form long linear puddles or seasonal ponds. With the puddles frozen and covered with a layer of snow they revealed a very nice set of tracks.