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Sporting artist launches Woodcock Ringing Network

A new woodcock conservation initiative, the Woodcock Ringing Network, was recently launched in Wales by sporting artist, Owen Williams, to provide data on the bird’s migration patterns.

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P.Quagliana December 2006 Woodcock Shooting Baronscourt Castle NI. USED 13 DEC 07 NEWS 6 AND 7

Together with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Ringing Scheme, the team has so far succeeded in ringing 84 woodcock in mid and west Wales ? as many as in the rest of Britain and Ireland combined.

Owen, who recently achieved his BTO ringing permit, explained that already the project is generating useful knowledge: ?I was out ringing last night and of the eight birds I ringed, one was a re-trap of a bird that I had ringed on 13 January last season.?

?It was within yards of where it was last caught. I was absolutely over the moon. It makes sense of the whole project when you can build up information like that.?

The network, which covers the whole of the UK, is now keen to recruit and train others in ringing woodcock.

?Shooters in particular seem to be interested in woodcock conservation. A lot of people have already made contact with me, but many more are needed if we are to make a success of the scheme,? said Owen.