Is this a Woodcock?

Hello :-) :-) Never seen one of these in my garden. Weird a wading bird would be around, nice to see though, lucky you.

yes think you are right there. they are normally quite shy birds. the dark stripe along its wings is key i think. always thought it was a nocturnal bird spendng most of the day in cover

yes i looked too on google but on images and it looks to be a
Woodcock...

Lovely suprise for you Simbad

What a treat. Isn't it nice when we get a new visitor in the garden.

Wow!! no wonder she was excited, anyone would be, well done on getting the photo's Simbad and thankyou for sharing with us...........

Thanks everyone nice to know I'm not going mad :-) I've never seen one in my life either and must admit to being very excited.
Think OH disturbed it from its sleep Maisiesdad he chopped a tree and cleared quite a lot of ivy from a rough area we rarely use in the wood so I can plant more snowdrops, sometimes it doesn't pay to be too tidy does it, hopefully its still in there somewhere.

What a lovely visitor to your garden...

I've never seen one Kathy ,how exciting for you and lucky you had your camera on hand , thanks for showing if I ever see one I shall know what it is , do people eat Woodcocks or am I getting muddled with something else ?

Yes, that is a woodcock, simbad. never seen one in a garden, though but I can always hope.

Thanks Holly, Amy and Bulbaholic :-).
Yes it is woodcocks that you can eat Amy although looking at the size of them doesn't seem worth it, think I've seen them in those 3 bird roasts you get at Christmas.
We live in the middle of quite a busy little town Bulbaholic but the wildlife we get here is amazing, much more than we ever had when we lived in the country,we even had a deer once, our little wood is at the side of the main road into town.