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Certainly a difficult early winter period for 'pinning down' the blue marauders;Earlier on there were some decent flocks on the huge acorn crop in Herefordshire & we were able to get a few bags of 30,40 50ish but then about a month ago they dispersed onto the Ivy berries (Roadside hedges, Ivy clad trees on the edge of woods &ancient,uncut hedgerows in the valleys) & we have been reduced to alternating our decent,shooting season roost woods for bags of 10-15ish. It is always difficult to identify any reasonable flightlines when they are on the Ivy berries & I sometimes think they will roost where they are feeding? I was down on the Cornish coast (Newquay area ) last Wed (in all that wind/rain) & I have never seen so many pigeons in one place for a long time.Unfortunately it was quite a posh shoot & as a guest I had to behave myself...but I was pretty twitchy all day. Lines & lines of pigeons were flighting along the treetops as I stood on my pegs down in the valley.Despite the fact that the phaesants/partridges were truly testing ,exciting targets, I could happily have shot at the pigeons all day long.My smoking rate went up a bit. I can remember years like this not so long ago when the natural food supports the pigeons well into the winter & still maintain that they will only focus on the rape as a last resort.In this Parish I think it will be early Feb before they need to get onto the rape.In the meantime we might get a day on the flailed cover crops?

Ted was the star once again... that is apart for your accurate shooting which we have become used to!Those birds going on the wind were like Exocets & you did well to bring them down at all.I had to watch this a couple of times to take in the detail of the retrieve, lough & to pick out some birds against the background. Entertainment on a lazy Sunday morning whilst eating my pancakes.Thanks.

Good to hear you are back on track!

A fascinating insight into your way of life in the slightly harsher environment North of the Border.Loved the snipe picture & the one of you shooting in your underpants was an eyeopener too! You obviously experience some pretty good duck flights from time to time...brilliant sport which we can't match in this part of the world.Thanks.

Running out of adjectives ...but stunning once again.

I feel your anguish Aga Man but don't let it get you down;All reports suggest you are straight shooter with plenty of experience.Those mossberg hushpowers are weird guns...top heavy, overstocked & prone to do strange things whilst pumping another shell in.All this leads to frustration & slight changes in your technique.In short they take some getting used to BUT if you just concentrate on shooting/swinging just as you would picture the end of your 12b. barrels you will find they are pretty much the same in terms of swing/lead etc.. In fact I think they will shoot pretty much what I would expect from my 12b.Take your time & next time you will surely have more kills I think.

Man & dog in the same mindset.Plenty of ducks around by the sound of the other guns along the shore. I'm glad you had a legitimate excuse for the overhead miss;I could never get along with Berettas & religiously stick to my Browning these days (I rely on sneaky editing for my failures)! It came good for you in the end.A pleasure to watch whilst I'm looking out on 6-7" of snow outside the window.I wonder if the other guns out have a self imposed bag limit?A sensible idea .

Shot eleven coming in to roost tonight/this afternoon & all except two had acorns in their crops.The other two had barley + awns which suggests there must be a barley stubble in the area but I have no idea where it is.I think there's enough acorns in our part of the world to keep them happy until the end of December.I don't expect rape shooting until well into January?

How do you do that? Mesmerising

Finally got my Go-Pro back! Some clips from a blustery day under some Oak trees on Wed.There were a couple of hundred birds spread over a wide area & i just chose an Oak in the middle of the patch & put out a load of plastics,one FF5 flapper & a rotary behind me with the wind on my back.Second shots were difficult in the strong wind but there were some big bunches coming in. If my 'oppo had not been busy he would have had some good shooting down against the line of trees below my position.I probably should have moved...getting lazy these days!Ended with 52 (for 3 boxes of shells I'm ashamed to admit).Had light rain from time to time but nothing to put me or birds off. Ken Rae's pigeons..wlmp

How the heck! One would have been good.

Just right Greengrass.The geomtry of the lines (beak, black stripe, leg angles etc..) remind me of a Charley Harper painting of one of his Bluebirds. I do like that picture & thanks for cheering up my Sunday morning.

Thanks Aga Man.Yes I miss my Go-Pro which I left in someones car whilst fishing on the Tyne in June. Should have it back this coming week when I'm up in Scotland for a few days with the same group of people.Yesterday would have made a good video as most shots were well up with sky background. Oh well!

These have been desperate times in my neck of the woods.I would not resort to chasing crows most years,but these last two months have been devoid of shootable pigeons.Today seemed to be no different in prospect despite spending Friday night on the blower to all the likely landowners/fellow shooters.My usual 'oppo is out of action(,he's 83 & has had two operations on his back this summer) but still likes to drive the patch with his dog doing reconnaissance but he said he had seen a lot of pigeons on one farm although he thought they were flitting from oak tree to oak tree & not settled on any crop as such. I also rang & rang my other shooting 'Oppo without getting hold of him.(Unfortunately his house burnt down last May & they are only just moving back into it this week after a rebuild).I now feel quite guilty that I should have driven round & knocked on his door.Oh well he missed a good day! After checking out two other possible farms & seeing not a pigeon,I made my way 30 odd miles to the area Charlie had spotted a lot.They were there but spread over about 1000 acres of winter wheat & flitting/dancing from one Oak to the next;Nothing down at ground level but they were skittish ,going up in flocks ,disappearing into the horizon whilst other flocks floated back into the area.After 20 mins of watching a bit of a pattern developed along a hedge about half a mile from the nearest parking spot.We had quite a bit of rain here overnight & the walk was hard work but I needed to carry plenty of deeks,a rotary & a flapper plus batteries to have any chance of bringing them in range. Fortunately I had judged it about right,set up in the hedgeline with the wind behind & set out the plastic decoys on the winter wheat;I don't know if they saw the decoys until I had the rotary, flapper & a few dead birds out,but the shooting was fantastic.High,low jinking,long crossers & ones going so fast that they were gone before I saw them.This went on for 2 hours when I ran out of cartridges!I know Cardinal Sin but it should not have happened like it did.They were still going over at 2 pm as I did the second journey to the car with the slain. If only I had taken more cartridges,if only I had got hold of Dave to come as well.If only Still 69 picked is the best day for a long time.

Big migration of adult pigeons over south Herefordshire today;They were pretty high ,heading North (against the wind) and clearly had neck bars when viewed through the binoculars.My shooting 'oppo & I watched them for several hours , on a broad front going over our rather pathetic crow setup.Pigeons have been off the menu here for a couple of months but we had to get out! You know how it is. We started trying to do an estimated count but were overwhelmed by their numbers after half an hour. In bunches of 20 to 200+ they just kept coming at a height of about 2-300 ft. Not shootable more's the pity. Wonderful to see from a pigeon fanatics point of view & I think we both wished we could 'engage' with them. Where are they heading , where do they stop off at night will they be there tomorrow? I am desperate to find some shootable pigeons again but I think it may be December before we get any decent bags?

Hell Ollie , one of those crows nearly fell in the sea! One or two memorable shots there,those going away shots are deceptively tricky sometimes.A good watch thanks. I left my GoPro in someone's car many months ago & they live the other end of the country & I do miss it.Hopefully get it back this November when I return to Scotland for some shooting. Thanks for posting.

Good watch once again.Ted is pure gold & you can see he loves every minute.I think you might be in for some more windy conditions tomorrow by the sound of it.

Very special.You can almost smell him & what a palate of autumn colours.Thanks, has cheered up my working morning.

Kind of weird effect.Stunning pictures nonetheless. Alfred Hitchcock would have been interested in these pictures 48 years ago.Hope you recover soon.

Top feathers look like hen Pheasant,middle section Tawny Owlish & bottom RHS looks like Grey Partridge covet feather colour. Is this one bird?It's giving me a headache on a Sunday morning!

Far out man.You have such a passion for photography that every picture has interest.We all visit places with memorable sights & scenery,but once back home those memories soon fade.To have so many shots to edit must keep it fresh in your mind long after yuo're home Thanks for sharing.

Every shot in the book there Ollie; High crossers, L to R & R to L, high driven & high going away, & even a second, killer shot on a spiraling head-shot pigeon (the ones I always seem to miss). You should savour days like that.Thanks for the 'proxy' sport whilst I watch from my kitchen laptop with a glass of beer.By the way I love those FF5 flappers,if things look promising I often travel light with just an FF5,a lithium battery & one dead bird;They can pull them in quite well.Sorry there was no spectacular sea view this time,but we can't have everything.

So real.Sand eels,poor ******* ,at the bottom of the food chain but pure nutrition for their youngsters.Fabulous picture once again.

Dedicated picture as usu Doc. Such a striking bird until you see its legs close up..a bit like a desperate old man's scrawney arms.They should have been designed with darker'smoother skin over their legs & feet! Not the brightest birds when it comes to choice of nest site either.Thanks for posting.