TRINITY Posted April 20, 2020 Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 On my daily exercise walk today I saw a pair of English partridge. A very rare site nowadays in the area where I live. On returning home I checked the RSPB website and saw they are now on the red list. The general view suggests their decline is quite serious. If this opinion is accepted, do you think it is a good thing to keep shooting them or give them a break as they seem to need all the help they can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted April 20, 2020 Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 hello, have not seen any for many years, i think where my friends farm is the Buzzards have increased their numbers so taking partridge chicks although more reds now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd90 Posted April 20, 2020 Report Share Posted April 20, 2020 18 minutes ago, TRINITY said: On my daily exercise walk today I saw a pair of English partridge. A very rare site nowadays in the area where I live. On returning home I checked the RSPB website and saw they are now on the red list. The general view suggests their decline is quite serious. If this opinion is accepted, do you think it is a good thing to keep shooting them or give them a break as they seem to need all the help they can get. The ones being shot are normally keeper bred and reared birds. These birds don’t do great in the wild. Wild grey partridge shouldn’t have keepered birds introduced as they can impact on the wild stock. Wild birds should be supported to breed through good habitat conservation and smashing the predators as much as possible in the area. The hard part is getting farms who base their farming practices around conservation and shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 Predators are the main problem four legged for any ground nesting bird and winged. Where this has been sorted greys can still survive in numbers. In my younger days back in the 1950s greys where the only partridge on the ground and I remember on one of our shoots seeing a red leg in the line up at the end of the day and my grandfather said they should shoot everyone they saw. Our farm and my uncles made up about 500acres and three times a season it was shot and coveys of fifteen to twenty greys coming out of a turnip crop was the norm and we would do five drives. Vermin where not tolerated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 The only grey I have seen was a fleeting glimpse as it bounced off my windscreen last year! I wasn’t even aware there were greys around here. I stopped to look for it but it was dead unfortunately. I felt awful all day, gorgeous little bird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B725 Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 We have a few hanging on here I see them quite regular ,many year's ago each field had a covey in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptC Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 The Prideaux - Brune estate at Tregirls near Padstow has a reintroduction scheme working with the GWCT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 I see many Grey partridges every day. They are all wild and are doing pretty well here on the Wolds. Most have been paired up since January but there are some single cocks making nuisances of themselves trying to break up long established relationships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave at kelton Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 Yep pretty rare these days due to lack of keepering and rise in predators. I recall showing a client around an old T2 Hangar in Oxfordshire that had been used as a grain store and was to developed. On entering a covey of grey partridges got up and headed out of the broken windows at the other end. One misjudged it and hit the frame dropping to the floor. I went up and popped it into my pocket. I still remember the look on the clients face when he asked what I was going to do with it. “Well it will either have recovered by the time we leave or it will be in the pot for tea tomorrow”. It went in the pot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokersmith Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 10 hours ago, TRINITY said: On my daily exercise walk today I saw a pair of English partridge. A very rare site nowadays in the area where I live. On returning home I checked the RSPB website and saw they are now on the red list. The general view suggests their decline is quite serious. If this opinion is accepted, do you think it is a good thing to keep shooting them or give them a break as they seem to need all the help they can get. Posted 10 hours ago, but could have been 10 years ago ! That's when most folk started seriously easing off them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panoma1 Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 12 hours ago, TRINITY said: On my daily exercise walk today I saw a pair of English partridge. A very rare site nowadays in the area where I live. On returning home I checked the RSPB website and saw they are now on the red list. The general view suggests their decline is quite serious. If this opinion is accepted, do you think it is a good thing to keep shooting them or give them a break as they seem to need all the help they can get. As for numbers of Grey Partridge.........I think I would sooner get my info from the GWCT than the RSPB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatureBoy Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 1 hour ago, panoma1 said: As for numbers of Grey Partridge.........I think I would sooner get my info from the GWCT than the RSPB Agreed! . . . . . Great to see and hear about. Not doing to bad in Suffolk. Got them on 4 farms in small numbers. Bred well last year and one farm had covey of 17 going in to Autumn. Out of control dogs and the recent influx of wandering/walkers disturbing them and other birds and animals not helping. Two shoots rear and have enough to shoot good numbers. NB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOXHUNTER1 Posted April 21, 2020 Report Share Posted April 21, 2020 Still a few around up here. Our little rough shoot had about 6 covies last season . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogone Posted April 29, 2020 Report Share Posted April 29, 2020 (edited) Over here in western Canada we call them Huns or Hungarian Partridge. Introduced about 110 years back and done incredibly well. Harsh winters will knock them back but recover in a few years. Right now they are paired up and I see 8-10 pair just on roads edge. Our coveys seem to average 12 birds in fall. Coyotes , fox and skunks are the main predator. Right now on my farm it seems like we will have equal to the best covey years. My home farm is about 1500 acres and I call an excellent bird crop one bird per acre. Fabulous sport. Edited April 29, 2020 by dogone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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