Pigeons on barley yet ??

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, as above, not seen much happening in the vale yet, looks like will be early this year, This stormy wet weather might flattern some barley to get enough pigeons for a days shooting what is happening in your area ?? Cheers

[Clodhopper]

I don’t think the Barley in my part of Lincolnshire is quite ready for pigeons to be interested just yet. Another 2-3 weeks and it will. 
 

I haven’t seen any rooks getting on any yet either.

[ditchman]

yup they are on the barley here and gritting..

[Konnie]

Did see rooks hitting a field of winter barley the other  day. 

[Old Boggy]

Sadly no barley grown on the farms that I shoot, but the triticale is due to be cut this month for biofuel, so should provide the first of the stubble shooting.

OB

[Farmboy91]

Watched about 20 or so on one of the barely fields on my perm, couldn't actually see the peice of ground they were dropping onto because of the lay of the land but every now and again they were flapping up into the nearest tree then back down again with plenty more passing over.

Might be a good days decoying there for someone at some point. 

[clangerman]

seen first few on barley today dropping in and out from the lecy wires unfortunately perm already taken 

[kenholland]

rooks and crows just started to take an interest , have a look on Monday.

[Centrepin]

Barley here not high enough yet, dead Friday afternoon, next check Mon/Tues.

Plenty of Crows coming to decoys on bare patches though, but alas, no pigeon. 

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, thanks for replies, we have had a real stormy day and heavy rain,  interesting to hear on other parts of uk, cheers

[yickdaz]

13 hours ago, Clodhopper said:

I don’t think the Barley in my part of Lincolnshire is quite ready for pigeons to be interested just yet. Another 2-3 weeks and it will. 
 

I haven’t seen any rooks getting on any yet either.

depends on whether it's winter or spring sown, they will be on the winter sown right about now or next week

[Clodhopper]

6 hours ago, yickdaz said:

depends on whether it's winter or spring sown, they will be on the winter sown right about now or next week

It’s the winter sown Barley, the grain just didn’t look quite big enough to be of interest to the birds or to lodge the stems. No doubt this rain will soon have it swelling up.

[marsh man]

Every year seem different from the previous one as far as shooting on or over grain fields , in the local paper yesterday, a farmer with a large amount of land was saying his barley fields were the worst he had seen them for at least 20 years , up until this weekend there had been no rain whatsoever , our winter wheat fields had been irrigated for the last four weeks and now the spuds are getting a soaking .

Looking back in some old diaries the earliest I could find when I shot over laid Barley was down the marsh on the 20th June , that was a number of years ago , now with this so called global warning I am sure some years it could be a bit earlier depending on what part of the country you live in .

What is also different is the height of the stems , now they are shorter with a thicker stem so you need heavy rain and a good wind at the right time of growth to knock it down , the tell tale signs are pigeons sitting on telegraph wires or sitting on the branches of dead trees , at this time of the year you can easily look when you leave off work or after tea if you have it earlier enough , spend a bit more time watching and it will pay dividends .     GOOD LUCK.

[Shotguneddy]

Shot 17 today on a flighline going over our barley, to a driller cover strip a mile away then it poured down at 2,30 so we called it a day but definitely a few more getting around the barley the last few afternoons I have been watching, thanks

[Shotguneddy]

There in it tonight 

[Paul59]

sounds like barley is the one to watch then 

[Farmboy91]

Watched the same field again late this afternoon, plenty of pige dropping on to. Big field of barley behind it too. 

On 07/06/2020 at 09:33, marsh man said:

 

What is also different is the height of the stems , now they are shorter with a thicker stem so you need heavy rain and a good wind at the right time of growth to knock it down , the tell tale signs are pigeons sitting on telegraph wires or sitting on the branches of dead trees , at this time of the year you can easily look when you leave off work or after tea if you have it earlier enough , spend a bit more time watching and it will pay dividends .     GOOD LUCK.

This is exactly what I've noticed, they have a sitty tree and a sitty pylon about 30 yards apart, the patch they seem to like is between the two. 

[Old Boggy]

On 7 June 2020 at 09:33, marsh man said:

 

What is also different is the height of the stems , now they are shorter with a thicker stem so you need heavy rain and a good wind at the right time of growth to knock it down , the tell tale signs are pigeons sitting on telegraph wires or sitting on the branches of dead trees , at this time of the year you can easily look when you leave off work or after tea if you have it earlier enough , spend a bit more time watching and it will pay dividends .     GOOD LUCK.

The shorter stems, more particularly on wheat has enabled the pigeons to adapt by landing on top, spreading their wings and getting at the milky ears. They no longer need to land on the crop and drag an individual stem to the ground in the tramlines as they used to. I've found that a rotary positioned in a convergence of tramlines (larger open area) with careful shooting can provide good sport and no damage to the crop. Looking forward to this happening shortly as the wheat is well on around here.

OB

[marsh man]

13 hours ago, Farmboy91 said:

Watched the same field again late this afternoon, plenty of pige dropping on to. Big field of barley behind it too. 

This is exactly what I've noticed, they have a sitty tree and a sitty pylon about 30 yards apart, the patch they seem to like is between the two. 

You might be able to use the pylon to your advantage by putting up a hide around the base , the pylons we used to have was these massive ones that carried the main cables across the countryside , the base was normally left to overgrow so you had plenty of background cover , the beauty of these were you could decoy in virtually any wind condition and being in the middle of the field was also a help . GOOD LUCK

 

3 hours ago, Old Boggy said:

The shorter stems, more particularly on wheat has enabled the pigeons to adapt by landing on top, spreading their wings and getting at the milky ears. They no longer need to land on the crop and drag an individual stem to the ground in the tramlines as they used to. I've found that a rotary positioned in a convergence of tramlines (larger open area) with careful shooting can provide good sport and no damage to the crop. Looking forward to this happening shortly as the wheat is well on around here.

OB

Pigeons and Rooks seem very adaptable in getting over minor problems with the short standing Wheat , we had a Wheat field last year down on the marsh , the Rooks had started in the tram lines by snapping the stems to remove the heads of corn , before long they had a perfect platform to stand on with the broken stems , then the Pigeons arrived and they done the same until some well aimed lead was put in there direction .

We have got a bird table in the back garden for the small birds , this have got a narrow ledge all the way around it that I constantly fill up with a wild bird mix , we get all the normal ones like the Robbins and Blue Tits and thought there would be no way a Pigeon could land on this ledge and it would have to be sideways at the same time , how wrong we were , once the Pigeons found the seeds they perched on the side of ledge while flapping at the same time , with the bird table hooked on to stand it would be swaying from side to side with the seed dropping into the garden , the Pigeon would then drop into the garden and eat the lot , clever birds .

[Farmboy91]

12 minutes ago, marsh man said:

You might be able to use the pylon to your advantage by putting up a hide around the base , the pylons we used to have was these massive ones that carried the main cables across the countryside , the base was normally left to overgrow so you had plenty of background cover , the beauty of these were you could decoy in virtually any wind condition and being in the middle of the field was also a help . GOOD LUCK

That's hopefully that plan for later on this year, as you say nicely overgrown and what is growing is pretty dark too so my net should blend in quite nicely. 

Cheers 👍

[Centrepin]

Barley here a lovely rich green colour, about 24" high. Sat watching two flight lines yesterday with binos and saw less than 10 pigeon in 2 hours. Not worth setting up yet, and next week I have a funeral 😪 . I'm up there again for Corvids Fri and Saturday so will look again.

Managed to drop a passing pair (3shots) decoying Crows though.

[kitchrat]

On 09/06/2020 at 06:13, Old Boggy said:

The shorter stems, more particularly on wheat has enabled the pigeons to adapt by landing on top, spreading their wings and getting at the milky ears. They no longer need to land on the crop and drag an individual stem to the ground in the tramlines as they used to. I've found that a rotary positioned in a convergence of tramlines (larger open area) with careful shooting can provide good sport and no damage to the crop. Looking forward to this happening shortly as the wheat is well on around here.

OB

Yes, I've seen this too. Rare to find lodged wheat or barley these days, sadly. (farmers don't agree, just like they like to get the peas well into the soil!)

[marsh man]

3 hours ago, Centrepin said:

Barley here a lovely rich green colour, about 24" high. Sat watching two flight lines yesterday with binos and saw less than 10 pigeon in 2 hours. Not worth setting up yet, and next week I have a funeral 😪 . I'm up there again for Corvids Fri and Saturday so will look again.

Managed to drop a passing pair (3shots) decoying Crows though.

You might well be looking at Spring Barley which will still be Green and about two feet high , Winter sown Barley would be changing colour to a golden Brown and should now be up to maximum height , this is the one you need to keep an eye on as the grain inside the ears will soon be milky and with this changable weather we are having you could find over the next few days the first signs of a few laid patches.

GOOD LUCK if you find a field .

[Centrepin]

48 minutes ago, marsh man said:

You might well be looking at Spring Barley which will still be Green and about two feet high , Winter sown Barley would be changing colour to a golden Brown and should now be up to maximum height , this is the one you need to keep an eye on as the grain inside the ears will soon be milky and with this changable weather we are having you could find over the next few days the first signs of a few laid patches.

GOOD LUCK if you find a field .

It is spring sown barley, one field drilled towards end of March, the other the first week in April. I didn't have the permission then, only gained it about 10 days after drilling during lockdown. Been visiting it at least every two days since and dropping odd pigeon or crows on open areas. As it's my first Barley I'm keeping notes and watching for any obvious flight lines. Pigeons are still about, as are Crows, but are in the adjacent woods which I can't enter. 

[motty]

9 hours ago, Centrepin said:

It is spring sown barley, one field drilled towards end of March, the other the first week in April. I didn't have the permission then, only gained it about 10 days after drilling during lockdown. Been visiting it at least every two days since and dropping odd pigeon or crows on open areas. As it's my first Barley I'm keeping notes and watching for any obvious flight lines. Pigeons are still about, as are Crows, but are in the adjacent woods which I can't enter. 

Taking note of what happens and when, is a great way to plan your future reconnaissance.