Bog Myrtle & Peat

Clearing a ride through the woodcock strip, I reached a wet area of ground. The pine trees were planted on raised furrows, and the area between the high mounds is flooded for a twenty yard long section in the middle of the wood. Not wanting to waste an opportunity to encourage wading birds, I began to clear all of the trees around the wet patch and use it as a shallow splash for snipe to paddle through. Enlisting the help of three friends, we set about creating organised chaos amongst the knotted roots and sappy stumps of the clearing.

It is only wet because several drains have become blocked in the same place, spilling water into the wood to pool between the roots. A slight dip in the ground leaves nowhere for the water to escape, so theoretically this spot could be a haven for snipe. But, like everything in this project, there are drawbacks.

I was recently told by a gamekeeper that snipe like to wade in the open where they can keep an eye open for predators, and the windswept hillsides all around the strip give ample scope for this factor. In order to give these little birds the view that they are looking for in the woodcock strip, I would have to clear a great deal of trees from one of the only woods on the farm. All things considered, it is probably a good idea to make the best use of what is already there and concentrate on developing habitat for just one species of bird.

To that end, the strip is being shaped into the ultimate activity playground for woodcock. By the time I have finished with it, applying everything I learn about these brilliant birds, it will have become the greatest textbook woodcock habitat in the south of Scotland. It is always good to aim high on these things.