fowl weather !!

[big bad lindz]

Here I am stuck offshore because of the `fowl` weather and the choppers are not flying and I would rather be sat on the shore with the wind and the sleet lashing into my back. If I do get of this week I see that the forcast for the last week or so of the season is to be still & cold. **** law eh!

 

How has the weather affected your season with all the rain & snow I think that all the bags may be down this year I know mine are, both for the foreshore and inland decoying.

 

BBL

[Reabrook]

My inland season was definitely affected. We usually pray for a bit of rain which leads to flooding of some low lying meadows. As these are usually the first in the area to flood all manner of duck usually pile into even an inch of water. This year the floods along the whole valley have been so extensive it's been a complete waste of time. With so much to choose from the duck were spread far and wide.

The geese, mainly Canada's, also deserted us for greener pastures.

 

On the shore has been slightly better for me this season but bag returns are still down on previous years. A piece of Club marsh behind the sea wall has had a foot of water on it all season when in a normal year it has an inch or two after Christmas. Though I've had a few duck and the odd goose from it it hasn't been exceptional. When it rained and the fields again flooded the whole Severn Estuary appeared devoid of fowl with only hard frost sending them back to the foreshore.

 

Others may disagree but the Widgeon on the Severn were again very late in arriving and numbers appear to me to be well down. I shoot several marshes in Wales which are obviously further West but appear to have a healthy population from around early October. I've sat on the sea wall on the Severn and watched pack after pack of widgeon at migration height pass over into Wales. The WWT count for the area seems stable so not really sure what the problem is if there is one.

[Yoggy]

As above....My inland Wash shooting has been quite simply pants. 90% of the Washes have been totally flooded since late October making shooting near on impossible. Although I`ve been able to bag a few Duck and a couple of Geese the majority of Wildfowl were just to far out in the flood water. Still, the sights of other birds such as Waders, Bewicks, Owls and such definately made up for the lack of shooting.

[jonnybgood]

same for me really, inland has been affected, quite simply becuase of the sheer amount of water about.The pinks that usually feed on our farm, have forsaken it, as it is all grassland, and so much harvest was left they have moved from flooded patches of barley/ wheat all season. our bags are down mostly, but we have had a record bag on mallard, due to some good do's early on in the season.

[Reabrook]

our bags are down mostly, but we have had a record bag on mallard, due to some good do's early on in the season.

 

That's a good point. Now in late February bemoaning what a poor season we've had I had almost forgotten how good the early season Mallard shooting had been. That in itself was surprising given the appalling summer.

[sako751sg]

Havent done the estuary this season but inland was stop start.Very slow to get going due to too much water creating splashes everywhere so the ducks had any amount of choices.The last month was very good,although the frost and hard weather meant a week was lost but as they thawed they came back in numbers again.

[Big Mat]

I can't comment on duck/geese numbers compared to previous years on the foreshore, but i certainly saw pinks in the area earlier than i have done in previous years ( they flight over my house ).

 

The cold spell we had brought some duck back to the marsh, despite doing quite a few flights i only managed one shot which missed but it was good to see some back!

 

Now whether or not i can get a duck before the end of the season remains to be seen!