Great snipe nest is usually a well-concealed small depression, marked with circularly arranged blades of dry grass. The outer diameter of the nest is 9–14 cm, and the depth is only 2-3 cm (Dyrcz et al. 1972, Gotzman and Jabłoński 1972, Cramp and Simmons 1983). Nests are located in denser and higher vegetation than the foraging places. In Biebrza Marshes, nests were established in very different places, from extremely dry to very wet, in sward up to 40 cm, most often on the border of sedge dominated grasslands and shrubs or in meadows (Dyrcz et al. 1972). In the Upper Narew Valley three nests were found in the sedge and one in the wet meadow amongst the higher and more compact vegetation than foraging places (M. Korniluk - unpublished data).
On the Biebrza, great snipes establish nests at a distance of 100 to 600 m from leks, but most of them were found within 150-200 m from a lek (Dyrcz et al. 1972). In the Upper Narew Valley, nests were found at 250, 190 and 50 m (M. Korniluk - unpublished data). In the Lublin region (the Bug Valley), a nest was found at a distance of 360 m from a lek (P. Stachyra - unpublished data). Also, reports from Belarus indicate that the majority of nests are located in the immediate vicinity of the lek (Mongin 2006). However, the results of telemetry indicate that some females nest at a greater distance from the leks, even up to 2-3 km (M. Korniluk, A. Kuresoo - unpublished data). One female with a GPS transmitter in 2014 established a nest at a distance of 22 km from the lek where she was tagged, but another lek, which she also visited - was located 2 km from the nest (M. Korniluk - unpublished data). These results indicate that there is still a lack of knowledge about the behaviour of great snipe females. |