Blank Flight

[anser2]

I have been doing a little inland fowling since Christmas with some success with the geese , so for a change I decided to try for the first time since mid December a morning flight on the Norfolk coast for duck. With the recent cold snap I had hoped a few duck might have been driven down to the shore , but this morning was very quiet. Only saw 3 wigeon , one pink and a few teal. With luck I might had 3-4 teal , but nothing seemed to go right.

 

Early on a little bunch of 4 came down my creek lovely and low , too low in fact as when they reached me they dropped below the skyline and what were stark black silouets became blurred shadows against the far creek bank. I had a shot , but to no avail. For a long time no more duck appeared , though it was an incredible sun rise. The clouds were at first tinged with a deep scarlet well before the sun appeared. The scarlet turned to pink and spread across most of the sky before turning orange with the sunrise. For most of the flight my eyes were trained down the creek from where I expected any teal to come from. Almost as soon as I turned my head to watch a bunch of curlew move inland and in that instant 3 teal shot over my head and were gone before I could bring my gun to my shoulder. I had another long wait with no sign of any quarry , but there were hundreds of brent and shielduck coming down the creek. I always keep an eye out when big packs of brent start to move about the marsh as they often have a few duck with them.

 

Around nine I decided to pack up , put my gun in its slip and started to bring the decoys in when a couple of hundred brent lifted off the saltmarsh. Needless to say this bunch had a pair of duck with them who swung out of the flock and almost settled with the decoys as I was pulling them in. I was standing in the open in full view yet they never saw me until they were 15 yards off. Why do we bother with camo jackets!!

 

A blank morning , but still a joy to be there , the sunrise alone was worth getting up for.

Edited January 19, 2016 by anser2

[Penelope]

it ain't all about pulling the trigger is it.

[Grandalf]

Join the blank club my friend. Not been able to get out much this season for reasons stated elsewhere. Had two shots - which missed - so I am still on a duck for this season. Don't know if I will be able to get out again before the end.

But, as you say, 'it is still a joy to be there'.

If that ever goes then I will pack up.

[Richie10]

I have never seen duck with big Brent groups, seen single Brent with groups of ducks.

 

Different marshes different habits I guess.

[fenboy]

Its certainly tough going on the foreshore at the moment , I have blanked my last 5 flights now , though I have seen duck on all those occasions.

[anser2]

Richie , our marsh has hundreds of small pools scattered across it which attract small parties of teal wigeon and mallard. The brent also use them quite a lot and when they jump they often take the wigeon and teal with them , but the mallard always do their own thing. Rarely there may be an odd greylag or pink with them too , but these are often, but not always lightly pricked birds. However it means some straight shooting or risk hitting a brent. Often the duck are safer left , but they usually form a descrete group on the edge or behind the brent.

[marsh man]

I was out this morning ( with out a gun ) and witnessed the spectacular sun rise that came up over the town , with everywhere covered in hoar frost it really did look nice.

 

Funny you were saying about the lack of duck on your patch today , on ours this morning it was the complete opposite , last week it was very quite and now after a couple of days of frost there are 100s if not 1000s of Widgeon on there , maybe the splashes and Broads are iced over ?

 

Same as a lot of people I have had my fair share of blanks and last night was one more to add to the list so you are not alone , but they are forgotten about and tonight I will be freezing my bxlls off on a river bank somewhere to see if the duck are using running water now everywhere is iced over , and maybe just maybe my bag will be heavier going home than when I left my house .

[Richie10]

Richie , our marsh has hundreds of small pools scattered across it which attract small parties of teal wigeon and mallard. The brent also use them quite a lot and when they jump they often take the wigeon and teal with them , but the mallard always do their own thing. Rarely there may be an odd greylag or pink with them too , but these are often, but not always lightly pricked birds. However it means some straight shooting or risk hitting a brent. Often the duck are safer left , but they usually form a descrete group on the edge or behind the brent.

 

I understand now. Where I am there are big groups that will sit on the marsh or on the fields behind. We shoot the rising tide with decoys usually so not really small pools.

The duck will sit on the mud and creeks over night but the brent usually move off to the main river.

Brent will come into the duck decoys but I rarely see duck go and join Brent.