Ghosts across the Irish Sea

Woodcock are ethereal creatures. Baffling early scientists, it was once thought they lived on the moon during the summer, returning to our woods in the autumn. It wasn’t until the advent of radio tracking devices — and more recently the pioneering work of the GWCT — that the true wonder of these diminutive waders became clear.

One of the earliest to be tracked by the GWCT was Monkey, tagged in 2012. He undertook a mammoth migration from the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall back to Krasnoyarsk in Russia to breed, a journey of more than 6,176km. He often covered 1,000km in a single hop.

There is still debate about the extent to which they will carry their young in their claws when fleeing danger (see , p71). Archibald Thorburn memorably painted it. Sceptics question it. My father, after a dram or two, will tell you convincingly he has seen it “at least twice” in Suffolk, “while we still