army646 Posted July 29, 2018 Report Share Posted July 29, 2018 I am based up in the north and constantly watch the wheat crops in the area as they start to ripen, waiting for the Woodies to start to build as it begins to turn. Now this year, the numbers have not built as they have in past years. Can't help but think that it's all happening a bit soon and the good weather has meant that the birds might be preoccupied with the second or possibly even a third clutch. What makes me think this? Well I went out early the other morning onto one of my permission, after being away fishing for a couple of days to find that pretty much all of the winter wheat had been combined. Speaking with the farmer he reckoned they were at least a month ahead and they had not had to use glyphosate to get it to turn. I had a drive round and a periodic sit and watch to see what was knocking about on the flight lines. Next to nothing with very few birds on the ground feeding. This was between about 9 & 10.00AM. Not even any real amount of corvids! Popped round to see another farmer who I shoot for and whilst we were talking we watched a woody going to and fro from the Sycamore in his yard collecting small twiggy bits, obviously for nest material. Had a look at his acreage of wheat and watched a few woodies knocking about on the summer flight lines. Visited another of my farms and found a number of birds feeding on a patchy bit of winter wheat, which had not done to well due to the wet conditions last autumn/harsh winter. Watched the comings and goings for a while, had a natter with the farmer and decided to have a bash. Ended up with about 90 over two sessions over a couple of days, plus about 20 corvids. What I did notice was that pretty much all the birds that I 'crowned' were all juveniles i.e. they had the light coloured and excessively downy under plumage and underdeveloped neck rings. Next to no adults in the bag. Is this because they are still in the midst of raising young? Anybody else finding anything similar? What do we think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted July 29, 2018 Report Share Posted July 29, 2018 The only thing that I find strange is that you had mostly juvenile birds. I don't think the early harvest has done any harm to the pigeon shooter. Pigeons will take advantage of the foods available. Also, regardless of nesting, pigeons will still need to feed themselves and any young in the nest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
army646 Posted July 29, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2018 I know Motty, I have never seen as many young ones in a bag. As a bit of an update, had a bit of a drive round today in the intermittent rain and saw plenty of pigeons where there were non two days ago, so jobs a good un. Possibly they were feeding later to avoid the heat or perhaps they needed a day or two to settle down after the combine had been through. I do wonder if the parents stick to a much shorter feeding range whilst they have squabs on the nest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unico1 Posted July 29, 2018 Report Share Posted July 29, 2018 Totally the opposite here, shot some rape stubble last Sunday, had around 40 not one young bird amongst them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted July 29, 2018 Report Share Posted July 29, 2018 51 minutes ago, unico1 said: Totally the opposite here, shot some rape stubble last Sunday, had around 40 not one young bird amongst them. I go along with you , yes I have had a few young ones but not the same quantity as previous years , although I haven't had a go on rape stubble yet and going by other years our rape stubble is normally in early August , so yes the harvest is very early this year . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
army646 Posted July 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2018 Hopefully I will be out a couple of times this weekend and will post regarding the bag. I have never seen this before, but literally most of the total batch were young uns. I would normally expect perhaps a third. It's unusual! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead eye alan Posted August 1, 2018 Report Share Posted August 1, 2018 On 29/07/2018 at 16:53, unico1 said: Totally the opposite here, shot some rape stubble last Sunday, had around 40 not one young bird amongst them. Same here shot 46 only 5 young uns in the bag, strange as this time of year usually about 50% young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AYA117 Posted August 1, 2018 Report Share Posted August 1, 2018 On 29/07/2018 at 16:53, unico1 said: Totally the opposite here, shot some rape stubble last Sunday, had around 40 not one young bird amongst them. Shot 38 on rape stubble and only 1 young bird, I would have thought they would have had a good breeding season, so where are all the young birds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatureBoy Posted August 1, 2018 Report Share Posted August 1, 2018 I think a lot of the first nests failed my way this year. The high number of crows taking a lot of then out as leaf cover was later on the hedges etc. A lot i have shot in the past few weeks i think are not fit enough to breed at mo because of the weather and conditions. Nothing on them empty crops and no sign many are nesting or feeding young when i prep them. Even taste different to me. Seeing less stock doves about to. NB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
army646 Posted August 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2018 That's a fair point Nature Boy. We get loads of Stock Doves normally round where I shoot on a normal year. I haven't seen that many at all this year. They can sometimes be a bit of a pain in the ****. My policy now is to just let them come into the pattern or flit around above it to create more movement to attract the Woodies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell Posted August 1, 2018 Report Share Posted August 1, 2018 What was your policy before ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 Shot 58 adults and 2 young birds on some rape stubble yesterday (Wednesday) don’t seem any different to other years. Wait till the end of August and tell us how many young birds you are seeing/shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 1 hour ago, old'un said: Shot 58 adults and 2 young birds on some rape stubble yesterday (Wednesday) don’t seem any different to other years. Wait till the end of August and tell us how many young birds you are seeing/shooting. I agree. It seems totally normal to me. I have shot a few young birds recently, but I expect to see masses of them when shooting the bean stubbles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 4 hours ago, motty said: I agree. It seems totally normal to me. I have shot a few young birds recently, but I expect to see masses of them when shooting the bean stubbles. One farmer near to me is already into the beans. Drove past the field on Wednesday, combine in the field and one swathe cut. I would guess he's done it by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 52 minutes ago, Penelope said: One farmer near to me is already into the beans. Drove past the field on Wednesday, combine in the field and one swathe cut. I would guess he's done it by now. Such a strange harvest , other years they had to cut whatever was ready , in our case it starts with the winter barley , next is wheat or rape( whatever is ready first ) , followed by the spring cereals and lastly the beans , this year there seem to be one long continuation of cutting , no hold ups and no waiting , this weather is due to last and if it did our estate would be finished next week , possibly at least three weeks early Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.