JDog Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 (edited) My normal habit is to put the dogs in the car for their early morning walk and take them to a remote field where they can run carefree. I do this to avoid other dog walkers from the village and in particular to keep both dogs away from the delights of the smell of bitches in season which sends them wacky. This morning black ice rendered my drive dangerous so I simply walked over the road into a rape field. We were no more than 100m from the house when Barney put up a small covey of four Grey partridge, the cock cackling as they flew away to keep the group together. Barney returned to my feet and sat down at the flush, something he has taught himself to do. I sent him out again to sniff the scent and he put up another two. I feel sorry for those people not fortunate enough to have ever seen or heard these delightful birds. One minute later a Barn owl drifted by no more than 50m away. There is a resident pair nearby living in the buildings in the picture, plus a Little owl and a Tawny owl in the wood opposite my house. Edited January 10, 2021 by JDog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WalkedUp Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 Nice walk. We don’t get Greys sadly but have a lot of other game and owls on our morning walk. I step over the style from my garden to the open fields and we go for an explore. Try to aim for dawn as the atmosphere is special. Teal, red-legs, pheasant, woodcock, hares, snipe, mallard, barn owls, the odd fox it’s great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTaylor91 Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 Nice, Barney and Jasper are absolutely brilliant. We always try and avoid other dog walkers, the amount of people with completely out of control dogs around here is baffling. I’m not saying ours is the perfect dog or even close to where I would like her but she’s better behaved than 95% of dogs we meet while out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 Nice to hear about the greys we used to have a small covey near us but they built an industrial estate there and that was that. We have seen more otters this year while out walking by the river than I have seen in the rest of my life, during the summer they were active even in the middle of the day. I wondered if it was due to the shorter nights and having young to feed, as we haven't seen one in 3 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel b3 Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 That's a cracking start to any day JD. We lost our dog about six months ago , and the house just isn't right without a dog laying in front of the fire , so I'm starting to think that it's about time I got another pup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Best Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 Interesting post. So it is not just me that is having to avoid herds of dog walkers/lockdowners with unruly dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 Just back from my morning walk , bitterly cold but not as cold as yesterday morning when it was minus three , sadly we don't no longer see wild Greys on the marsh land , yes we have got some on the estate but they were put down rather than hatched out in the wild , we do see mainly water birds including King fishers and the odd Bitten , this morning the wildfowl were sitting a lot closer to the estuary wall as the cold is beginning to tell , this should be the last cold day for the time being with tomorrow being above freezing point . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 I do not have a dog to walk these days but I find like you that crack of dawn presence in the countryside is the time to be there. I'm normally just sat up in a blind or highseat these days but see so many things that your average walker(no pun intended) does not see. I have had both a barn and a tawny land on the rail of my high seat and from the claw marks in the foam on the rail it is a regular perching spot. I have a resident wren on one ivy covered tree and he/she will flit around me searching for food. One of my favorite birds. Really pleased to hear you have some greys, my childhood walks across the farm would disturb a dozen coveys in the teens. My grandfather grew mangols, turnips, swedes, potatoes as well as cereals and he was an avid vermin killer. We did not see red legs or Frenchmen as we called them back then until the late 50s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave at kelton Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 Don’t have grey partridge here in Kelton but my morning dog walks are accompanied by the sight and sound of thousands of wildfowl for seven months of the year. Heaven on earth and I rarely meet anyone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Boggy Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 I have fond memories of walking up grey partridges on stubbles many years ago. There appeared to be several large coveys to each field in those days. Such memories that cannot be taken away. Nowadays I occasionally see a small covey on a particular part of the marsh where I shoot and was treated back in the summer to their old `broken wing` trick to distract attention away from the brood. Hares, on the other hand are virtually non existent, whereas previously were a very common sight in spring particularly in fields of young wheat. I`ve not shot a hare (or have any further inclination to) for about 15 years, but still love to see them about. Marshman mentioned bitterns. I`ve only ever seen two but very occasionally used to hear the booming of the males. Not heard them for years now. I was fortunate during a cold winter many years ago to see about twenty waxwings in a bush. Not seen any since. OB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 55 minutes ago, Old Boggy said: was fortunate during a cold winter many years ago to see about twenty waxwings in a bush. Not seen any since. Strangely enough a friend in Hartlepool posted in Facebook a load of waxwings in a bush. I just tried to download it but it is bad resolution as he used a digital zoom unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piebob Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 (edited) One of the farmers with fields next to me is very conservation-minded, with some lovely hedgerows and various sizes of set aside areas and wild dens. I see greys every year, and last year they chose to nest next to my fence between the grass and the (never-used) drive. So we had regular visitors last year. Photo taken looking through the patio door. Edited January 10, 2021 by Piebob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatureBoy Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 Great birds! Everyone my way saying how well wild english done last year! . . . . . Disturbance from walkers/dogs will only get worse. especially with it being so wet. Some "Foot paths" even across crops are now several metres wide. Any signage ignored! More litter! And poo bags! Gurrrrr! NB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 6 hours ago, Old Boggy said: I have fond memories of walking up grey partridges on stubbles many years ago. There appeared to be several large coveys to each field in those days. Such memories that cannot be taken away. Nowadays I occasionally see a small covey on a particular part of the marsh where I shoot and was treated back in the summer to their old `broken wing` trick to distract attention away from the brood. Hares, on the other hand are virtually non existent, whereas previously were a very common sight in spring particularly in fields of young wheat. I`ve not shot a hare (or have any further inclination to) for about 15 years, but still love to see them about. Marshman mentioned bitterns. I`ve only ever seen two but very occasionally used to hear the booming of the males. Not heard them for years now. I was fortunate during a cold winter many years ago to see about twenty waxwings in a bush. Not seen any since. OB I dare say we could start a thread of species that were once in abundance and are now rarely seen , and on the other side of the fence , we could give a mention to birds we see now that were once as rare as Hens teeth . Take for instance the Little Egret , now they would only get a mention if they wasn't seen . Then , although not rare by any means the Collard Dove was once getting nigh on out of control , now you do see them but not in the numbers that you did in the past , also another dove that is getting a bit of a rarity is the poor ole Turtle Dove . This is only a start and I am sure members can think of many more that were once common and visa versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerCat Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 Haven't seen a turtle dove for a long time lots of collard doves though. Was asked by a farmer to make a dent in some a few years back. They taste great with breasts wrapped in bacon and tobasco sauce on. Wood pigeon is a little stronger but it still works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted January 10, 2021 Report Share Posted January 10, 2021 14 minutes ago, GingerCat said: Haven't seen a turtle dove for a long time lots of collard doves though. Was asked by a farmer to make a dent in some a few years back. They taste great with breasts wrapped in bacon and tobasco sauce on. Wood pigeon is a little stronger but it still works. As for Collard Doves , at one time just about every grain store had big numbers of the Doves , also the grain silos along the river , we shot a lot with air rifles as it was a lot cheaper than buying a few boxes of cartridges , we did eat them by just cutting the breasts off and a quick fry up in the pan , basic I know , but then so were we Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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