Migrating wood pigeon ?????

[Lg1]

Who thinks wood pigeon migrate in to the uk from scananivian country's

Iv been reading up on it and most information states this Is not a common accurence.

 

Wood pigeon in the uk only seem to move from one part of the country to another, a freind of mine thinks that because the weather in Norway etc is very mild the birds have yet to migrate to the uk and that's why shooters are not seeing the numbers, I can understand the theory behind his comments but other facts seem to scupper this mindset.

 

There seems to be a lot of threads in regards to the lack of pigeons around, again my area is very grim indeed,

Lots of people are saying there just in the woods! But to be honest I'm not seeing a lot of that either...

 

So what do you think ? Do they migrate

[pigeonblasterian]

Think this has been done.

 

http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/topic/265524-thousands-of-pigeons-hit-devon/

[Lg1]

Yea kind off,

 

But what people are seeing and talking about is internal pigeon movement! Not actually migration from another country .

[ditchman]

Yea kind off,

 

But what people are seeing and talking about is internal pigeon movement! Not actually migration from another country .

 

 

 

 

read all the pages of the thread....there is a lot of discussion and informed comment, proof and conjecture as to your question......

[kitchrat]

Who REALLY knows?? And how did they find out??

[Lg1]

Found good info on bird watching sites, them boys are just as fanatical on woodies as we are.

They have spotters all over the country, they actually count the birds! There is a online document somewhere giving ideas of how many pigeons are in each part of the uk.

 

Also it seems the birds have certain migratory routes that thousands of birds use to get around the country.

This probably does not surprise you as we all know how pigeons follow flight lines.

 

Still, reading bird watching forums was very incitfull,

[Lg1]

The bird watches want a huge ringing campaign done on wood pigeon to help understand them more!

Strange thing is they mention that us shooters are a key part as we will pick up lots of rings for them.

 

They state that on certain known routes they count upwards of 100'00 in several hours! Most head south west.

The West Country is we're they state most pigeons go.

[Michael170874]

Hi there

To your question I used to live in France for a long time and I used to see literally tens of thousands fighting through France and down into Spain via the French Pyrenees ,and to confirm they had come from the uk an old friend of mine is a serious bird watcher who travels all over the world watching birds and he always let me know when he saw mass migration leaving the uk via the south west coast ,he told me lately of him watching pigeons flocks passing overhead out over the coast towards France .he said there was 20 or so flocks with around 10,000 birds in each flock he took some film of them .these are the birds each year that I used to see in France.

[Lg1]

Hi, thanks for that!

 

That matches what uk bird watchers are saying also!

Thousands of birds leaving the south west cost to France.

 

How ever, they state that wood pigeon don't flock to the uk from other country's like this,

They only leave in this way, this could account for the low levels of birds been seen in the uk the moment.

Also to why one day they are there and the next there gone, wish it was the other way around lol.

 

Thanks again

[blasterjudd]

Well a good friend of mine often tells me that at this time of year when the weather turns cold he watches tens of thousands of pigeons coming in from off the sea along the East Essex coast line. He believes these are migratory from the Scandanavia region and when they get snow they move over here. The birds are slightly smaller but certainly when they start arriving things improve in our region!

 

Lets hope the snow starts abroad shortly as Essex is dead quiet at the moment no birds about at all!

Edited November 25, 2013 by blasterjudd

[Lg1]

Well a good friend of mine often tells me that at this time of year when the weather turns cold he watches tens of thousands of pigeons coming in from off the sea along the East Essex coast line. He believes these are migratory from the Scandanavia region and when they get snow they move over here. The birds are slightly smaller but certainly when they start arriving things improve in our region!

 

Lets hope the snow starts abroad shortly as Essex is dead quiet at the moment no birds about at all!

I also have a friend with the same beliefs buddy and it does make sense, but almost all bird watchers and counters state very different. But im with you! lets hope them lot get a boat load of snow...

[Michael170874]

This is also true as last year my bird twitcher friend told me of several hundred thousand pigeons coming over the east coast near flamborough they must of come from Scandinavia .hes also seen this same thing on the coastline at Norfolk .

Last year where I shoot around North Yorkshire I had easily 5,000 birds in my erea the flocks were huge I had some fantastic days on the rape.just hope things improve by mid December that's when you expect to see large numbers if by then it's still quiet then I can see it being a bad year

[pigeonblasterian]

I have a friend who is a bird watcher he travels all over the world but likes his pigeon meat,he has told me many times about flocks of woodies in their millions coming over the sea at flanborough in East Yorkshire .he says these are from Scandinavia .

 

 

This is also true as last year my bird twitcher friend told me of several hundred thousand pigeons coming over the east coast near flamborough they must of come from Scandinavia .hes also seen this same thing on the coastline at Norfolk .

Last year where I shoot around North Yorkshire I had easily 5,000 birds in my erea the flocks were huge I had some fantastic days on the rape.just hope things improve by mid December that's when you expect to see large numbers if by then it's still quiet then I can see it being a bad year

 

Is it millions or several hundred thousand pigeons.

[Michael170874]

These were two different years ,and locations .

[deandoncaster]

Recoveries of Woodpigeon

The map depicts foreign ringing and recovery locations of birds encountered in Britain or Ireland. Purple dots indicate locations where birds that have been ringed in Britain or Ireland have been found and Yellow dots indicate ringing locations of birds subsequently found in Britain or Ireland.

[Fisherman Mike]

I've been an active Twitcher for over 40 years a member of the RSPB since before I can remember, and a member of the BTO for the last 30..ive attended more conventions, meetings, surveys and the like than Archie Coates has shot wood pigeons. I've given talks on ornithology and lectured similarly at agricultural colleges ...

 

I have never heard reports of the resident population of UK wood pigeons Migrating and they are totally sedentary.

 

Scandinavian wood pigeons however migrate each year particularly in large numbers when their home winters are bad ( which is normally always )and they generally migrate via the UK to France and Spain.. Sometimes the migration is overland via Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium or even across Germany but large number hit our shores and make their way south late September to November each year.

 

So they will arrive in huge numbers in the North of England and Scotland and use the UK as a stop over. There is no reason for the resident UK population to Migrate.

 

Some of these Scandinavian birds will stay in the Northern counties, Scotland and even work their way into Ireland but the vast majority will work their way to the south west, south, southeast and east coast and then across to France and Spain to winter in warmer climates before returning.

 

Remember that with a tail wind a bird can cover 40 - 50 miles in an hour so in the right conditions it could be breakfasting in a field in Northumberland early morning and taking an evening meal in Brittany 12 hours later or a tripping over the bay of Biscay into Spain within 36 Hours.

 

Resident woodpigeons are still around in very large numbers, it might be that they are in the towns and gardens more now than ever before, there's certainly no shortage of birds in my area..just because they are not flocked up it doesn't mean they are not abundant.

 

Feeding habits of resident birds are changing, they are cosmopolitan in their diet and habitat and no longer a bird of the wood as their name suggests. We have become a nation of bird lovers with millions being spent on bird feed each year. Pigeons in particular have picked up on this very quickly. Put a handful of peanuts on an open bird table 40 years ago and a blue tit or great tit would have been the first bird to visit...try it now and I guarantee in 75% or more of cases the woodpigeon will be the first bird to call.

 

This is why in some rural areas there is no longer any serious predation by pigeons on crops, rape is not nutritious and the birds have learned that they can get a similar calorific intake from one crop of peanuts than a whole week of OSR..

 

If your a wood pigeon trying to survive a hard winter its a no brainer really.!

Edited November 26, 2013 by Fisherman Mike

[Fisherman Mike]

Hi there

To your question I used to live in France for a long time and I used to see literally tens of thousands fighting through France and down into Spain via the French Pyrenees ,and to confirm they had come from the uk an old friend of mine is a serious bird watcher who travels all over the world watching birds and he always let me know when he saw mass migration leaving the uk via the south west coast ,he told me lately of him watching pigeons flocks passing overhead out over the coast towards France .he said there was 20 or so flocks with around 10,000 birds in each flock he took some film of them .these are the birds each year that I used to see in France.

These would undoubtedly be Scandinavian birds on their annual migration which use the UK solely as a stop off point.

[Lg1]

Loving this post... So controversial, one thing is for sure though, bird watchers are a great source of info :0)

 

Glad I started looking at there sites and will continue to do so ...

[Whitebridges]

Top post from Fisherman Mike, great summary.

 

My take on it for what it's worth is that the UK does get a huge influx of Woodpigeon from abroad but very few ever migrate back.

 

Below is an extract from "The Birds of Norfolk". Page 345-6 gives details of the influx of pigeons and the history of migrations to and fro Norfolk. Fascinating read, here's a snippet.

 

Edited November 28, 2013 by Whitebridges

[Catamong]

Yes, an excellent summary from FM, spot on as usual.

 

We get lots of hotheads on this forum talking about vast numbers of birds arriving in their area, but in reality, they are simply over flying, to warmer pastures well south of the UK.

 

I don't believe that there is any significant influx of Woodies from Scandanavia into the UK, but the resident population will move around a bit if the weather turns bad, i.e. significant and prolonged snow cover.

 

Again, a lot of posters reckon we need a good cold snap to encourage the birds to feed, I have found the complete opposite, if it gets too cold they simply sod off elsewhere.

 

Cat. B)

[Whitebridges]

Cat, It's a fact that we get huge influxes from foreign climes.

 

I've seen them with my own eyes. Out fishing at sea in the autumn, thousand and thousands.

 

In fact we have had a fall this very last week.

[Catamong]

Cat, It's a fact that we get huge influxes from foreign climes.

 

I've seen them with my own eyes. Out fishing at sea in the autumn, thousand and thousands.

 

In fact we have had a fall this very last week.

 

Yeah, but they don't move inland...fact.

 

So you Norfolk boys have obviously been enjoying mega bags recently......tell us more..??

 

Cat.

[Whitebridges]

,,,,,,,,

Edited November 29, 2013 by Whitebridges

[Catamong]

Well, either they're there or there not..........or am I missing something..??

 

And what's clays and farmers got to do with supposedly migrating woodies..

 

Have you been on that Stewkey brew stuff again.....I did warn you it would rot your brain...

 

Cat.

[Lg1]

 

Yeah, but they don't move inland...fact.

 

So you Norfolk boys have obviously been enjoying mega bags recently......tell us more..??

 

Cat.

They don't move inland ? Quite a brave statement to call that a fact lol...

Yeah man yeah. You shoot a few clays yeah yeah

 

But yew ain't no farmer. You're no countryman either yeah yeah.

 

I don't post bags. But as you are a special case I might dew.

Huhhh?