Scarce passage migrant.
The Ruff breeds in temperate to arctic regions of the Palearctic, those in the west wintering in southern Europe and Africa.
Mathew 1894 classed the Ruff as an occasional autumn visitor; rare. He based this on a single specimen seen at Cuffern. Lockley et (1949) listed three occurrences plus the statement "recorded on several occasions at Skokholm”. Donovan and Rees (1994) classed it as a passage migrant, principally seen in autumn, less regularly in spring and occasionally in winter. There has been little apparent change since.
Graham Rees