Ferretboy111 Posted August 4, 2006 Report Share Posted August 4, 2006 Just a quick message to see how things are going on other peoples shoots, as in how many wild birds have had chicks and kept them?? Ive seen loads of pheasent poults at good sizes and 10 partridge chicks from one pair which are rather big aswell, bring on the season. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted August 4, 2006 Report Share Posted August 4, 2006 It does seem to have been a very good breeding year for the wild birds. I have seen quite a few pheasant and partridge broods about and as the rape and wheat cover disappears, I expect to see even more. There are also some large broods of mallard on the Marsh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 The wheat has yet to be cut but its looking good so far. Seen a fair few average sized broods of wild pheasants i.e threes and fours, but last week saw the biggest brood I have ever seen, a hen with 13 five week old poults. Was lamping the other night and nearly ran over my precious covey of grey partridge, luckily I was only crawling along at walking pace yet they still got up from under the wheels. They fluttered left and right a few feet before clamping down, only about five or six young though. Seen some barren pairs aswell but generally greys keep a low profle until the last fields have been cut, hopefully there will be more coveys yet to be seen. I had not seen a wild redleg poult for two years (and that was on its own) but on the same patch where I say the greys whilst lamping I saw a pair of redlegs with ten well grown poults. Greylags have done very well as always but the average brood size is probably down a little bit due to the cold spring. Ducks have done very well with their second broods, anything thats hatched from the beginning of June onwards seems to have thrived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
game_keeper Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 we have had a good wild bird breeding season, although there is still al ot of fields standing, so you cannot see the true extent of how many chicks there are, you get a rough idea of how many there are by looking on the outsides, we have seen around 50+ wild pheasants, which are good looking birds, also seen around 30+ french partridge chicks (look like bumble bees with legs) and about 10+ english partridge chicks. Although we deal with many thousands of pheansants, its always nice to see the truely wild birds surviving and breeding. The only shame is when the pheasant poults that have been brought kill the wild ones, but nothing can stop that. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferretboy111 Posted August 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 Sounding good everywhere then, not just here, Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.223 Posted August 12, 2006 Report Share Posted August 12, 2006 best year ever on my shoot acording to the boss every pair of partridge seems to have some young at foot best brood seen is 12 about 6 weeks old, average is about 5 though most pheasants have reared something aswell average is about 3 though biggest brood 7 and we have ducklings everywhere, seen some just hatched only last week a bit late as there in season soon had 2 pair of tufted nest this year for first time aswell this year one only hatched 3 and 1 survived the other hatched 5 all still going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted August 12, 2006 Report Share Posted August 12, 2006 best year ever on my shoot acording to the boss every pair of partridge seems to have some young at foot best brood seen is 12 about 6 weeks old, average is about 5 though most pheasants have reared something aswell average is about 3 though biggest brood 7 and we have ducklings everywhere, seen some just hatched only last week a bit late as there in season soon had 2 pair of tufted nest this year for first time aswell this year one only hatched 3 and 1 survived the other hatched 5 all still going. Are the partidge greys or redlegs? On our little patch my brother saw a covey of greys with ten or eleven poults so we now have two precious coveys If it carries on like this we may even have enough to shoot some in three or four years time . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.223 Posted August 13, 2006 Report Share Posted August 13, 2006 Are the partidge greys or redlegs? mostly redlegs. But we do have quite afew greys as we put down 50 a year the brood of 12 were redlegs though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millomite Posted August 13, 2006 Report Share Posted August 13, 2006 We've put our poults down and there are now running from all over the wood to your feet at the sound of the dinner whistle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferretboy111 Posted August 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2006 Mine coming in thursday of this week, thats when the hard work really starts Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobF Posted August 14, 2006 Report Share Posted August 14, 2006 Our best red-leg brood is a 21! Theres also a 17 and a 10. The greys haven't shown themselves yet, but theres definitely one barren pair. The black grouse seem to be doing well but the red grouse are few and far between. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted August 14, 2006 Report Share Posted August 14, 2006 Our best red-leg brood is a 21! Theres also a 17 and a 10. The greys haven't shown themselves yet, but theres definitely one barren pair. The black grouse seem to be doing well but the red grouse are few and far between. Rob Rob, Are these Redlegs the progeny of birds released onto the hill? Our wild Redlegs have not done at all well for a few years now and I was wondering if it was because they were getting 'diluted' by the increased amounts of reared birds. If your birds are ex released stock that are successfully breeding then I am probably mistaken. Glad to hear that the blackgrouse are doing well, its one bird that I've never seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobF Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 Rob, Are these Redlegs the progeny of birds released onto the hill? Our wild Redlegs have not done at all well for a few years now and I was wondering if it was because they were getting 'diluted' by the increased amounts of reared birds. If your birds are ex released stock that are successfully breeding then I am probably mistaken. Glad to hear that the blackgrouse are doing well, its one bird that I've never seen. I'm pretty sure they are young of released birds, but can't be 100% certain. The predator control on the area is second to none. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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