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Migrant wildfowl starting to arrive on Lough Neagh


Big Al
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This morning's trip out. After two poor weeks, I was hoping the full moon would have brought in a few foreigners.

No wigeon yet, but teal and mallard seem to have made it in from somewhere- maybe Scotland as there has been an influx of woodpigeon too.

I take a tumble too. No harm done apart from a bruised ****!!

 

 

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Nice one Big Al , the Mallard your getting are now looking in very good condition , we have got a good lot of Wigeon that have already arrived and more should be coming in daily , at the moment they are a bit elusive but I am sure it will only be a matter of days before the first ones are in the bag , Mallard , Teal and Gadwall have already seen the inside of my old postmans bag .

I know what your saying about sure footing , one or two nights lately I have been coming back when the stars are out and have to be careful with the deep ruts that the cattle have made in the gateways ,  not to bad on a cloudy night but with a clear sky I have to watch my step , all part of getting old i'm afraid :yes:

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5 hours ago, Old Boggy said:

Another great video of what looks an absolutely delightful place to shoot.

Many thanks for sharing.

Keep them coming.

OB

Much appreciated Old Boggy. Pheasants start next week. 

2 hours ago, m greeny said:

Great stuff Al  I had you down for a right n left on those mallard but you redeemed yourself with the 2 teal I normally miss those well behind. Keep up the good work.

Cheers

Lol. I reckoned i had that r&l before I pulled the trigger!! I was too confident- I didn't make that mistake with the teal.

Edited by Big Al
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Another great adventure.Bear seems to have served his apprenticeship well and is working well.Never nice to fall over but you have to laugh,lucky nobody saw it happen.The drake mallard look in good condition and the teal too.Our winter visitors are arriving too wigeon,teal,and pintail in numbers.

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1 hour ago, greylag said:

Another great adventure.Bear seems to have served his apprenticeship well and is working well.Never nice to fall over but you have to laugh,lucky nobody saw it happen.The drake mallard look in good condition and the teal too.Our winter visitors are arriving too wigeon,teal,and pintail in numbers.

Thanks greylag. Aye, I'm glad no one will find out about the fall. Best to keep these things quiet!

Glad to hear the migrants are appearing- I love the wigeon whistle. Makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Hopefully they'll appear here soon.

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2 minutes ago, captainhastings said:

Thoroughly enjoyed that and had to chuckle. Was the tide in or does it get much deeper there ?

Thanks for the reply.

No tides on Lough Neagh- it's fresh water. The water level can rise with floods. 7 rivers flow into the Lough and only one flows out. The level can be controlled by the flood gates at Toome.  It does get much deeper past the stones, but I just slipped on a green rock.

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13 minutes ago, greenshank1 said:

Cracking mallard Al 

What about them makes you think they have come from Scotland , the size and colouring ? 

A great flight  , with the young dog learning well. 

Combining the two cameras gives a great perspective 

Thanks for sharing another great video. 

Many thanks Greenshank. Yes - it's the size and condition that marks them out. And the relative easiness with which they decoyed.  The local birds are way more educated after 6 or 7 weeks of the season. 

Why Scotland? It was their accent. 😉

We get a migration of woodpigeon from Scotland each year to our comparatively warm winter. There were a lot more pigeon about on Saturday so an it is merely an educated guess that birds are moving over the North Channel of the Irish sea.

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Cheers Al

thats really interesting . 

Quite drepressing though , as now not only are you Irish boys having a better run at the rugby than us your shooting our best mallard 🦆 

Sounds similar to our resident greylag that are now  worldly wise and now flighty and wily compared to the migrants geese we get coming through. 

Interesting about the woodpigeon as here on west coast we get very few , nothing like the east coast , Perthshire and Lothians. It's amazing to think something like woodpigeon are shifting so far for better winter feeding and milder conditions. 

Have a great season 

 

 

 

 

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20 hours ago, Cranfield said:

Its nice to see the birds in such good condition and the dogs working so well, I really enjoy that.
The speed of those teal brought back some memories, I wish I had a pound for every one I missed behind.
 

 

Very kind Cranfield- teal can certainly make a fool of us! 

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6 hours ago, Gerry78 said:

Brilliant Big AL Bear working great I love to see teal duck there my favourite species to hunt Think couple of weeks icy ❄️ weather hopefully the wigeon will arrive for you Great video as Always mate 👍👍😆

Thanks again Gerry- I've two Saturdays in a row at the pheasants before I get back at the ducks. I've just been informed that a few greylag have made it this far too. It looks like we'll be carrying a lot of decoys on Saturday week!

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  • 4 weeks later...
2 hours ago, 400yrds said:

Great vid Al. Used to shoot the Beg many moons ago. Sadly demands of family life scuppered it and I never reconnected. Shot with Brian Smyth great wee lad from North Belfast. 

Beg is pretty expensive - I heard £500 per annum from a guy who just left it. I've never shot it, so maybe it's worth it?

Sadly, my fowling videos will have to be put on pause. The less scrupulous of our number are overshooting the location(s) I shoot. I'm a victim of my own videos. I'm a bit peed off about it, but I'll still make them. I just won't release them until after the season. 

My pheasant / corvid / pigeon clips will continue. 

Thanks for the reply. 

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When I shot Beg last, seven years back, it was under half that cost Al. The shooting was good too, but obviously very weather dependent as the splash we shot was either a pond or a vast lake with the former better than the latter. There's always an unscrupulous/opportunist to exploit vid information. However that often results in a drafty drive home with a smashed car window or two Ive heard.

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6 hours ago, 400yrds said:

When I shot Beg last, seven years back, it was under half that cost Al. The shooting was good too, but obviously very weather dependent as the splash we shot was either a pond or a vast lake with the former better than the latter. There's always an unscrupulous/opportunist to exploit vid information. However that often results in a drafty drive home with a smashed car window or two Ive heard.

🤣

Edited by Big Al
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