Woodcock odyssey
Six months after starting my project to improve the habitat at Craigenputtock I have been rewarded by seeing the arrival of good numbers of visiting snipe and woodcock.
These migratory birds have made ample use of the new wetland scrapes and cleared woodland rides that have been installed since last summer.
On the first Saturday in Tanuary 2020 the estate welcomed an additional 10 new visitors in the form of a team of Guns made up of friends of landowner Colin Carter-Campbell and myself. They were mainly locals though Ian Whitehall, vice-chairman of the Gloucestershire Wildfowlers’ Association, made the 300-mile trip north especially for the day.
At my safety briefing I made the decision not to carry a gun before lunch as the planned drives would be too small to accommodate fully the number
