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Greylags


Salmo
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A very mixed picture in my part of Norfolk. The greylag have done badly mainly due to predation and a lot of early mallards have small broods 2-4 ducklings getting on the wing. June broods have done very badly, but those hatched in the recent heat wave are good with several with 10 or more 4 week old ducklings. They will still be a bit small when the season starts though. All my local shoveller have failed and the gadwall only rased a handful of ducklings. Only one brood of tufted duck and the ducklings disappeared in the poor June weather.

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18 hours ago, anser2 said:

A very mixed picture in my part of Norfolk. The greylag have done badly mainly due to predation and a lot of early mallards have small broods 2-4 ducklings getting on the wing. June broods have done very badly, but those hatched in the recent heat wave are good with several with 10 or more 4 week old ducklings. They will still be a bit small when the season starts though. All my local shoveller have failed and the gadwall only rased a handful of ducklings. Only one brood of tufted duck and the ducklings disappeared in the poor June weather.

What has been predating the greylags?

On the Humber I noticed much reduced productivity when after many successful years the Black Backs 'found the colony. 

The local RSPB reserve, quite a small one,  have reported that the thirteen pairs of marsh harrier they have were feeding their young with lots of goslings. 

Edited by scolopax
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On 27/07/2018 at 22:04, Salmo said:

Greys on the wing in svmcotland now , we’ve got them in 3 different fields now ...... must have been an excellent breeding year 

Will anybody be shooting them just now?

21 hours ago, islandgun said:

Noticed yesterday that some of our Greylags have formed a flock of about 100, normally they would be in small family groups at this time of year, i noticed when they were put up by a sea eagle, which seems to upset them more than anything

The same fella.Is anyone cracking the greys already?

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On 29/07/2018 at 11:09, scolopax said:

What has been predating the greylags?

On the Humber I noticed much reduced productivity when after many successful years the Black Backs 'found the colony. 

The local RSPB reserve, quite a small one,  have reported that the thirteen pairs of marsh harrier they have were feeding their young with lots of goslings. 

 

of  fox predation, but perhaps more important was the Arctic spell of weather in March . Just when the greys are starting to lay they were using their body reserves to survive the cold.  We  had fewer than normal pairs nest and the broods were small ( max 4) . We have marsh harriers , but saw no evidence of them or any other raptors taking goslings.

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On 29/07/2018 at 11:09, scolopax said:

What has been predating the greylags?

On the Humber I noticed much reduced productivity when after many successful years the Black Backs 'found the colony. 

The local RSPB reserve, quite a small one,  have reported that the thirteen pairs of marsh harrier they have were feeding their young with lots of goslings. 

So that will be a win/win for the reserves, as they were asking for Greylags to go on the general licence a few ago

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Lots are being shot under license . I got a phone call today to go and shoot greys / Canada’s . I did a cull on 2 different islands and shooting geese out of season isn’t my bag , on one island we shot 180 greys in 2 days ........ never again and not for me 

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Just now, Salmo said:

Lots are being shot under license . I got a phone call today to go and shoot greys / Canada’s . I did a cull on 2 different islands and shooting geese out of season isn’t my bag , on one island we shot 180 greys in 2 days ........ never again and not for me 

Under license or under the general license,or are they the same?

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Just now, sako751sg said:

Under license or under the general license,or are they the same?

I understand its under licence, it is/was relatively easy as a crofter to get a licence to shoot Greylags out of season if they were proven to be damaging crops. Other steps like scaring should have been used first. The Uists have had a heavy cull of Geese with SNH's approval and the local MP's interest. There is a goose management programme in Harris and Lewis where people have signed up. received cartridges and have then been obliged to report bags. the goose meat was to be given to local restaurants to try. Im not sure if that still runs.  Personally I prefer to take the occasional goose through the winter

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The first cull I did was on the isle of Tyree , the numbers were out of control . They were everywhere , now the numbers are controlled by the estate letting goose shooting as a package ....... but it was during the season and no license was required . 

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