goober

Pigeons around here have been starting on ivy berries,though I have a few I watch feeding on kale/rape mix cover crop outside my house. This year I have seen more pigeon on rape than previous 4 years,usually revert to airgun in the woods but have managed Decoying on rape most weekends which hasn't produced a lot but still enjoyable.

Carcasses from breasted game would not be used for pet food as they contain lead shot and also consist of a high proportion of feathers unlike poultry waste which has been de feathered. Waste from game dealers has low value and can be more expensive to have processed due to lead shot,low fat content and generally poor grade finished product compared to other animal by-products. The quantities of waste game carcasses produced is quite amazing and I know last year one company was finding it very difficult to find a processor and this means disposal costs can be high,though I wouldn't know how much per bird this would be.

I have started using stone dead 32g in 5's and found them good for pigeon and crow. I too prefer to use fibrewad as plastic wads do litter the ground,though some farmers don't seem to mind either. I was once told that plastic wads can be a problem in barley straw if used as feed(if using plastic wad in standing crop).

It is true,I also have one on order from last year.spoke directly to them and they were hoping for first batch back from re proofing late December/early This month.

Ball valve has less chance of leaking compared to a butterfly valve(ball is sealed to body with no shaft seals to leak). If it's in regular use I would go for a stainless ball valve with extended shaft(supported). I recently bought a flanged 4" stainless in new condition for £98 delivered off a well known auction site,though obviously if you buy new then price may be a factor in choice..

Hi,I used to swap handle and stem off new valve as valve seat was brass. If you know valve make,type and size you may be able to swap stem and valve gate (presuming you can source spares)but obviously it would depend on if you can stop flow and whether valve body is is in good condition(my valves were 4" and had brass seat but not sure if this is usual set up). If the valve is important and you can't identify model I'd change whole valve. Hope this helps.

Usually either brass nut that is located in gate has stripped or threaded stem has corroded and lost thread. You may feel slight jump when turning. We use to use crane gate valves which were prone to this as gate would corrode and brass nut would break free of gate,we now use stainless ball valves.

Just found this posting off local bird watcher today: Main Sighting: Lapland Bunting 1 Lapland bunting flying NE out over the saltmarsh; called twice but not seen. On the sea 2 great crested grebe and 3 common scoter. Waders picking up with 10 grey plover, 3 turnstone & 226 dunlin. A single brambling in the hawthorn along with a few redwing and fieldfare. Woodpigeon passage fizzling out with just over 1000 birds this morning compared with 10-70K most days over the last week or so. I haven't seen these constant numbers,so I presume they have passed through on a slightly different flight line? This years passage may be the least I have seen if it is indeed coming to an end.

I got to use my late fathers hammer gun this weekend,the first time since 1985 when I first used it pigeon shooting when I was just 15. It is a'guyot' bar in wood with single selective trigger with sir Joseph whitworth fluid steel barrels. I have noticed the rarity of single trigger hammer guns when trying to research the gun.

I have the earlier Gladiator which has good shot count,only downside was barrel clamp moving and shifting zero. My brother has Royale which is a good gun.Both FAC.

They were heading south west,I believe they leave around Penarth to head across Bristol Channel.

I was up early on Sunday morning at first light in a field next to my garden,a lovely frosty still morning. After dropping an unsuspecting crow I began to see large,high flocks of pigeon but the flightline had moved a few hundred yards inland and so only a few smaller groups passed overhead,mostly out of range. I continued to see probably 15-25 thousand passing high,one flock of probably 4 thousand in one long streak. By 10am the flow had more or less stopped with a few strays catching up,ended with a crow and two pigeon. As we still haven't seen the usual larger passage,I will presume they're a bit later this year and will show soon.

Main Sighting: Woodpigeon 73,500 woodpigeons heading SW. Main stream was following the coast but very high (most at 600-1000m some much higher) so easily missable unless looking directly upwards through bins. Some flocks way out over the Channel were higher and climbing past the vanishing point with Bins. Local report from Tuesday. There have been a few days of big numbers but hit and miss.Today a few passed from first light until only 8.30ish but I should see the main run over the next week. I have started noticing younger birds and also much smaller birds mixed in but theses may be stock doves possibly. Of the birds brought down,most were carrying a bit of fat and they seem to have hung around earlier in the week feeding in the hedges on berries. Also noted today was a sudden fall in numbers of local birds which had been on maize stubble,hopefully not related to migrants passing through.

That's good shooting Ditchman,I've only managed one so far(21gram 6's in 28gauge)but in my defence they were high and I was running back and forth trying to get under the lower groups whilst also trying to work! I've got some 32gramme 5 Black gold waiting for the main passage if they're low enough. The bird was in good condition with a bit of fat,adult bird.

Thank you Aga man but Im no expert,I just find it fascinating to watch and I've enjoyed reading up on bits and pieces in old books. I have a Max Baker book from 1934 in which he describes these migrants arriving at these times and I presume there must be numerous gamekeepers and old time pigeon shooters that knew of these passages,yet there seems very little mentioned of it.