Pheasant /partridge returns 2009/10

[groach1234]

Two farm shoots have rights over our land. One shoot had a very good return of 350 from 500 put down so thats 70% strangely the other shoot had its worst returns for a good few years then again its not hard to guess which one is rumoured to have been using mouldy corn at the start of the season

 

George

[decoyboy]

we put 2,500 down and had a return of 60% . not bad when you see how many gos hawks , sparrow hawks , buzzards and even a long eared owl are on the shoot . not forgetting the 90+ foxes we have had .

[anser2]

Decoyboy the goshawk is the only bird in your area likely to cause any problems with your pheasants. Sparrowhawk usualy find reared pheasants much too big a prey item , long eared owls mainly take small birds and mice\voles and after 15 years spending 1,000 of hours of reserch time studying buzzards I have only once seen one take a bird ( 1\2 grown coot )Yes they do take well grown rabbits , but their main diet is mice and voles plus a lot of soil insects. I have seen them on carrion including dead pheasants ( road kills ) , but out of the 800 odd kills I have seen buzzards make I have yet to see one take a game bird. I am not saying they do not take the odd juvenile game bird and perhaps starvation in snowy weather might force one to have a go at a game bird , but I suspect its a uncommon experiance. In my study area of Norfolk I know keepers who put out rabbit guts to encourage the common buzzards and apart from a couple of old time keepers ( who think any hooked beak bird should be shot on sight ) all the others have no complaints about buzzards other than they occasionaly disrupt the odd drive.

 

Compared to the tens of thousands of game birds killed on the road raptors take a tiny percentage.

Edited February 7, 2010 by anser2