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Golden plover.


JDog
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I have just seen the first Golden plover of the season. A group of ten came into the field of view through my binoculars and proceeded to land in a field of standing beans.

I saw a flock at the weekend , about 20 miles inland , these were like a small flock of Starlings possibly 100 strong weaving about backwards and forwards until they settled in a tight bunch on a stubble field.

 

As for aga mans question , do we still take them for the table , no I don't and haven't ate any waders till Curlew came off the list and I am at a stage now where I would sooner see them than shoot em, lovely birds and always a joy to see.

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I shot my first one last year on the Ouse Washes and it was very tasty, if a little small when dressed.

 

A lovely bird and something we used to see a lot of here along with a lot of Curlew. Only odd few now and to see a flock of golden plover is a treat.

 

Do you guys still take them for the table?, i am told they make very good eating.

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I have just seen the first Golden plover of the season. A group of ten came into the field of view through my binoculars and proceeded to land in a field of standing beans.

talking to senior RSPB man at our marsh the other day and he said they are in decline because of heather burning and grouse shooting ! I just said ok and walked away.

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Please inform the county bird recorder of any very early sightings of lowland goldens

September is very early for them to start moving from the upland breeding grounds. The information will be very useful to record migration patterns. The Rspb guy was talking out of his ****. Gp numbers are stable a green status bird. Due to the fact that pasture land has been converted to arable in the last 50 years and the pheasant bashers don't shoot them anymore. A very bland tasting bird Imo.and better out of the oven than in it.

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Think they eat pretty good myself not shot any for a couple of years as i have not esspecialy targeted them, but i used to try for them back in the day.

I used to like shooting cerlew too many a blank flight saved by cerlew, but they were more cautious back then than they are now let me tell you. ;)

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Please inform the county bird recorder of any very early sightings of lowland goldens

September is very early for them to start moving from the upland breeding grounds. The information will be very useful to record migration patterns. The Rspb guy was talking out of his ****. Gp numbers are stable a green status bird. Due to the fact that pasture land has been converted to arable in the last 50 years and the pheasant bashers don't shoot them anymore. A very bland tasting bird Imo.and better out of the oven than in it.

September is not early for golden plover In North Norfolk we can see them from mid July onwards and in some years I have seen good numbers from mid August on stubbles. In the 2014 Norfolk Bird Report flocks of 425 were on the Wash and flocks of 150 in N Norfolk and 90 in the Broads in July and 5 sites reported 100 + flocks in the county during August.

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It works.

I agree.

 

My first shot at Golden plover was when I was a boy of twelve years old with a twenty bore hammer gun. I knew what they were and 'browned' the flock of twenty birds or so. The whole lot hit the deck, then nineteen flew away leaving a single bird as my prize.

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During the day for me it works sometimes , but just as often they keep high.I have lots of goldies on my Broadland shoot , but they are almost impossible to shoot at flight time. They come in just as its getting really dark at knee height in singles. Very hard to pick them up with a low dark skyline and dangerous if there are any other fowlers about.

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A long time ago, when I little sense, I dropped 11 Goldie's for three shots. They are spectacular shooting coming into a field to feed at dark. Faster than any duck. You can forget about cartridge to kill ratios. They are a beautiful bird and as good to eat as any woodcock.

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