pigeon numbers

[Guest Patsmash]

i live in kent and have notice a drop in pigeon numbers laterly, i shoot a small bit of ground which as a large wood beside it ,normally there are loads of pigeon but this year theres hardly any, as anyone else noticed a drop in mumbers

[Fisherman Mike]

This is the worst year That I can remember in my area since I began pigeon shooting 25 or so years ago.

 

I think the birds are there but are greatly dispersed in smaller flocks. With so much food to feed on they can be up and gone to another field a few miles away.

 

There are parts of the country though that still have the massive flocks.

 

Many wood pigeon are becoming urban and living well in parks and gardens and alongside major roads and motorways. They feed at bird tables and in gardens and because of the increasingly mild winters no longer need to flock up and take to the fields.

 

FM.

[Browning]

Same here in Oxfordshire (well at least on the farms I shoot over ).

 

I'm now just going through the motions of getting up and walking the farms

just so the farmers still see me around.

 

Hopefully it'll pick up later in the year :thumbs:

[ernyha]

Many wood pigeon are becoming urban and living well in parks and gardens and alongside major roads and motorways.

FM same here, i have shot more in my back garden this week (4) with my air rifle than on my last 2 trips to the fields.

 

Always see plenty of pigeons about but as has been said many times this year, they just move on to quieter fields to feed when they have been disturbed.

 

Roll on harvest time. :thumbs:

 

[Aled_cky]

i just have no pigeons near me whatsover :thumbs: no trees here. theres a valley 2miles off my land.. there are a lot there.. they may fly to the border of my land to feed on seeds so annoying me and my dad havnt shot a pigeon in 15years.. and if we do kill 1.. we will eat it

Aled

[Cranfield]

I am also in Kent and I see wood pigeons almost everywhere I look.

Admittedly, not in vast flocks, but in lots of smaller groups.

They are on the clover,roadside ivy berries, rape, peas etc etc.

 

I don,t think there are less of them about ,totally.

The same numbers are there, just dispersed differently.

 

It seems that it needs "hard" weather, or a unique feeding opportunity, to get them to concentrate their numbers, in large groups.

[mallinson]

Hi

 

I have also noticed this, there were plenty of pigeons on the peas the other weekend, got set-up, one shot and they all left.

 

Last thing at night i shot another pigeon and it was full of these funny little black seeds, so they obviously all went to the other fields

[tody27]

Plenty here in N. Lincolnshire. I have never seen so many. - I live near plenty of woods and in a flat well drained arable area. In the winter the local wood had massive flocks and now the flocks have thinned but there are still plenty of pigeons about.

 

tody

[kdubya]

Until about a week ago any amount coming in albeit in small groups of 5-6 went out yesterday result 1 bird dropped, few pairs about but nothing interested in my "pattern" in fact birds I saw where to busy displaying, watched a lot coming in to roost tonight (cant shoot it) all pairs no groups whatsoever,

cheers Kw