Acorns

[Harnser]

I am seeing massive crop of acorns in my parish . Some of the oaks are really laden with acorns . What’s it like where you are ?

harnser

[Farmboy91]

We had a massive glut last year, pigeons loved it. I did have a wander under the trees Friday night but they didn't seem as heavy as last year, I'm sure I heard somewhere that the trees tend to do that every 4/5 years? 

[anser2]

I am not that far from you harnser  in N Norfolk, but I too am seeing a lot of acorns this year also plenty of beech mast. Nice to see after several years with little acorn crop. Might get some good shooting in the wood this winter.

[old'un]

Yep, seeing plenty on the oaks trees this year, if you have a flight pond, sweep them up and put them in the shallows, ducks go mad for them and bananas, but there’s not many banana trees around here.

[Walker570]

All 'nut' trees here in west Leicestershire seem to be laden with fruit including oak and sweet chestnut.  Great pity we don't have banana trees because, old'un is absolutely right ducks love 'em.   Got about a half cwt of very ripe almost rotten bananas some years ago and mixed then in some rolled barley. The ducks went quakers for it. Thought OK, I have a factory close by ripening them, they are bound to have rejects. Made a visit and the manager was very helpful, yes we do have rejects come down to the store. He opened the doors and there was probably 20 tons of the darn things. Great, can I take four or five of those boxes full.  No, he said, if you want them you have to take the lot by tomorrow afternoon.  Needless to say it did not come off.

 

[old'un]

30 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

All 'nut' trees here in west Leicestershire seem to be laden with fruit including oak and sweet chestnut.  Great pity we don't have banana trees because, old'un is absolutely right ducks love 'em.   Got about a half cwt of very ripe almost rotten bananas some years ago and mixed then in some rolled barley. The ducks went quakers for it. Thought OK, I have a factory close by ripening them, they are bound to have rejects. Made a visit and the manager was very helpful, yes we do have rejects come down to the store. He opened the doors and there was probably 20 tons of the darn things. Great, can I take four or five of those boxes full.  No, he said, if you want them you have to take the lot by tomorrow afternoon.  Needless to say it did not come off.

 

Old spuds is another puller for ducks, I remember the first time we put bananas in the flight pond shallows, the pond was always feed with barley and most nights pulled about fifty to sixty ducks, when we started feeding bananas within two weeks it was pulling 200+ ducks.

I’ve always wondered how this was so, one thought was the ducks feeding on our pond would return to their daytime roost and the other ducks could smell bananas on them and followed them the next night???

[marsh man]

1 hour ago, old'un said:

Old spuds is another puller for ducks, I remember the first time we put bananas in the flight pond shallows, the pond was always feed with barley and most nights pulled about fifty to sixty ducks, when we started feeding bananas within two weeks it was pulling 200+ ducks.

I’ve always wondered how this was so, one thought was the ducks feeding on our pond would return to their daytime roost and the other ducks could smell bananas on them and followed them the next night???

I have never fed Duck ponds with Bananas , not saying they are no good , simple fact we haven't got any , spuds yes and plenty of them , although we do find the frost need to get to work on them first  , we also have plenty of Oak tree scattered round the edge of the lake giving duck plenty to go at when like this year there will be a abundance of acorns .

[Walker570]

Frosty solution. Get an old chest freezer and fill it with bags of 'pig tatters'.   70yrs ago my grandfather used to boil about 5cwt at a time in a large copper my granny used to do the washing in.  Mixed with rolled barley or oats even, pulled ducks from far and wide.

[Sciurus]

Very poor acorn, hazel and beechmast harvest in Windermere, practically none existent. Got to look very hard to see anything on the trees and nothing on the ground- Plenty of rain though!