DMW
Well-known member
I spend much of the Autumn vizmigging and Woodpigeons are by far the most spectacular migrants we get. On a good day, when they get comfortably into 5 figures, watching the big flocks going over is a great experience - especially when the local Peregrines keep them honest and they start tumbling out of the sky en masse.The South Coast-breeding Channel-crossing birds seem to me less explainable in terms of what we know already.
Surprisingly interesting stuff from a species that rarely gets a second look after 1 January.
John
I have nothing to back this up, but I suspect that most of the Woodies we get are continental birds which have crossed into northern Britain and then cross the Channel aiming for Brittany.