September 1st 2022

[Poor Shot]

So, September 1st falls on a Thursday this year.

Personally, I've booked the day off from work and plan to be out for the first day of the season for no other reason than I can be.

The weather is due to be absolute **** for Wildfowling (Sunny at 20 degrees, clear and little wind with a midday high tide) so I expect to blank but this will be my first season as a full member (unrestricted access). This will also be the first working season for my ESS bitch so I could use a day to just sit out and have the dog sat beside me for an hour or two to put her patience to the test.

Who else has plans that involve the foreshore, dogs and a gun for this Thursday?

Edited August 27, 2022 by Poor Shot

[6.5x55SE]

Firstly Good luck and be safe 👍 

I don't know your area but where i shoot Lincolnshire Norfolk coast it's horrendous early season for knat's and bitey bug's they even annoy the dog's 😤

[marsh man]

48 minutes ago, Poor Shot said:

So, September 1st falls on a Thursday this year.

Personally, I've booked the day off from work and plan to be out for the first day of the season for no other reason than I can be.

The weather is due to be absolute **** for Wildfowling (Sunny at 20 degrees, clear and little wind with a midday high tide) so I expect to blank but this will be my first season as a full member (unrestricted access). This will also be the first working season for my ESS bitch so I could use a day to just sit out and have the dog sat beside me for an hour or two to put her patience to the test.

Who else has plans that involve the foreshore, dogs and a gun for this Thursday?

Enjoy your first morning out with just you and your dog , go with low expectations and treat the day as a learning curve , Up until a few years ago I loved getting out on the first morning , the excitement started to build from the second week in August when the combines would make a start on the wheat fields , each night I would be watching where the duck are heading for and stated to home in on one or two fields , a week before the season had started I knew where I would be heading first morning and it was even checked out again the night before , all the observation was done by myself as the last thing I wanted to do was to let Tom Dixx and Harry know where the best place would be , it wasn't a case of weather we would get any duck , it was more like how many we would get .

It used to be the case at a pre season club meeting with just the odd person who couldn't make the first morning , even if it was a week day and we all had to be a work we would still go , now it is the other way round with just the odd person keen enough to rough it out in this never ending hot weather and having a load of horses and cows to keep you company , sadly the keeness of yesteryear is unlikely to ever to return and now the 1st of September rarely now get a mention .

[Poor Shot]

1 hour ago, 6.5x55SE said:

Firstly Good luck and be safe 👍 

I don't know your area but where i shoot Lincolnshire Norfolk coast it's horrendous early season for knat's and bitey bug's they even annoy the dog's 😤

Many thanks. It's Bristol channel and I don't think we suffer too much with bitey flying things but horse flies may be an issue. If there's a horse fly anywhere in a 10 mile radius it will almost certainly make a beeline straight for me.

30 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Enjoy your first morning out with just you and your dog , go with low expectations and treat the day as a learning curve , Up until a few years ago I loved getting out on the first morning , the excitement started to build from the second week in August when the combines would make a start on the wheat fields , each night I would be watching where the duck are heading for and stated to home in on one or two fields , a week before the season had started I knew where I would be heading first morning and it was even checked out again the night before , all the observation was done by myself as the last thing I wanted to do was to let Tom Dixx and Harry know where the best place would be , it wasn't a case of weather we would get any duck , it was more like how many we would get .

It used to be the case at a pre season club meeting with just the odd person who couldn't make the first morning , even if it was a week day and we all had to be a work we would still go , now it is the other way round with just the odd person keen enough to rough it out in this never ending hot weather and having a load of horses and cows to keep you company , sadly the keeness of yesteryear is unlikely to ever to return and now the 1st of September rarely now get a mention .

Thanks MM. It's exactly that, a run down of the kit and dog before things really start moving. I fully expect to spend the morning faffing about and missing any passing ducks.

I hadn't thought about it but a trip down on Wednesday evening with a pair of binos may be worth while though it's not an especially productive marsh until the migratory birds arrive. Perhaps a few mallard and Canada geese. Also many, many shelduck ***.

There are traditionally plenty of Snipe though so a walk through the Marsh grass with the dog may produce some quick shooting. Though dog walkers on the sea wall and bird watchers walking onto the marsh may prevent that.

[Krico woodcock]

I'll be out.  I'm 42 years old and have been going out on 1st since I was 14.. haven't missed a 1st in any of them years.  Hope to get a few duck,  maybe a big Canada. Up until only a few years ago I couldn't sleep a wink night before 1st with anticipation, that has wore off a bit, thank god. But still get a buzz seeing a silhouette of a duck approaching,  in the dark of first morning,  a shot, retrieve for dog, first duck of season.  

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, good luck just to be out on your new wildfowling , reminds me when we use to get out on June 15 evening ready for fishing at 5 past 12, 

[shootgun]

Out on the geese and duck on the 2nd !

[nic]

sleeping out by the marsh on the evening before, few friends nearby, a quiet tipple and sleeping with the dog next to me.  up for a coffee in the dark and settle down.   may have a couple about, not going to where the geese are roosting as many will do, but a chance of a mallard will do me.  once the sun is up, cook a breakfast over a fire pit and chat with the friends before heading off.  dog will hopefully be muddy and an early bird i the bag.  but if he is clean and the bag is empty, al least i have survived to the start of another season.

[Gerry78]

12 hours ago, Poor Shot said:

So, September 1st falls on a Thursday this year.

Personally, I've booked the day off from work and plan to be out for the first day of the season for no other reason than I can be.

The weather is due to be absolute **** for Wildfowling (Sunny at 20 degrees, clear and little wind with a midday high tide) so I expect to blank but this will be my first season as a full member (unrestricted access). This will also be the first working season for my ESS bitch so I could use a day to just sit out and have the dog sat beside me for an hour or two to put her patience to the test.

Who else has plans that involve the foreshore, dogs and a gun for this Thursday?

First off all be safe and enjoy yourself if your on The foreshore Regarding tides etc you will enjoy sitting with your ESS watching the sunrise and hopefully get a duck 🦆 or 2 for the pot You will always remember your dogs first retrieve months of hard work finally pays off It’s been a few years since I went out the first morning September 1st as other posts have said usually the weather now is too warm As the season progresses when the weather gets colder and windier the shooting usually picks up Good luck and above all Enjoy 😉 Years of early morning duck shooting you always learn something New 

[marsh man]

9 hours ago, Krico woodcock said:

I'll be out.  I'm 42 years old and have been going out on 1st since I was 14.. haven't missed a 1st in any of them years.  Hope to get a few duck,  maybe a big Canada. Up until only a few years ago I couldn't sleep a wink night before 1st with anticipation, that has wore off a bit, thank god. But still get a buzz seeing a silhouette of a duck approaching,  in the dark of first morning,  a shot, retrieve for dog, first duck of season.  

Brilliant and I hope you are well rewarded for your effort , although if your bag is light it don't really matter , it's taking part what counts .

Your first sentence reminded me of my beginning , although I only wish I was still 42 , or come to think of it , do I ? , I have had a very good life in the field and on the marsh and maybe I have seen the good days .

I also bought my first gun when I was 14 after working all the Summer down the sea front and me and my brother bought our first gun punt at the same time for £10 off one of the last professional punt gunners, all the shooting was free at the time and with no restrictions .

September fowling was mainly at Waders and to get an early duck was a Red letter day.

One very early 1st of September I can remember started at around three o clock in the morning , me and my brother who is four years older than me had arranged to meet two other brothers about two miles up the estuary at 5am for a Curlew flight , we had to go early to catch the tide as we were going to take the gun punt , we left our boat shed and rowed underneath the ole swing bridge and then turned right to go around the Lumps , I well remember we startled some Lew that were sleeping on the saltings , these jumped up and with the towns lights in the background and my brother who was a far better shot than me at the time knocked one down at that early hour , retrieving was dead easy and we were soon back on our way .

We got to the Rond in good time and met up with the two brothers who have now sadly passed on , it was decided I stayed on the Rond and the three of them went a bit further up to where the Curlew flight over , as it got lighter I had a fair bit of shooting and very little to show for the amount of cartridges fired and I could hear a number of shots being fired where the other three were , when the flight finished the three came walking back on top of the wall carrying what look like a load of Curlew , these were stored in the punt and then it was time to walk the marshes for rabbits , they had permission to walk some of the marshes but not sure if the permission was for all the marshes we walked , still the only person we saw was the marsh man who lived in a isolated house near the Rond and he was happy with a brace of fresh Rabbits , we had a nice lot of Rabbits and also as a bonus we gathered a carrier bag full of marsh mushrooms , all these were again stored in the punt and with the tide beginning to ebb it was time to make a move to get back , we said our good byes and the two brothers walked back and was going to pick up there share later on that day , now 60 years later , the two brothers are long gone , the marsh man and his house are gone , the Waders are now off the list , the gun punts and the free shooting is also long gone , the only thing that haven't gone is the memory of that September the 1st and I hope that will still be with me until I am gone .

All the best and have a good season    MM  

[greenshank1]

I tend not to get really started until into October as there are still loads of young duck and young geese about at this time . Also the sea trout fishing is still good . 
Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable season on the shore , slainte 

 

[ratty1]

11 hours ago, greenshank1 said:

I tend not to get really started until into October as there are still loads of young duck and young geese about at this time . Also the sea trout fishing is still good . 
Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable season on the shore , slainte 

 

I wish our seatrout fishing was still good, it never even started this year. River has turned into a stream with little water.  

[Poor Shot]

13 hours ago, marsh man said:

Brilliant and I hope you are well rewarded for your effort , although if your bag is light it don't really matter , it's taking part what counts .

Your first sentence reminded me of my beginning , although I only wish I was still 42 , or come to think of it , do I ? , I have had a very good life in the field and on the marsh and maybe I have seen the good days .

I also bought my first gun when I was 14 after working all the Summer down the sea front and me and my brother bought our first gun punt at the same time for £10 off one of the last professional punt gunners, all the shooting was free at the time and with no restrictions .

September fowling was mainly at Waders and to get an early duck was a Red letter day.

One very early 1st of September I can remember started at around three o clock in the morning , me and my brother who is four years older than me had arranged to meet two other brothers about two miles up the estuary at 5am for a Curlew flight , we had to go early to catch the tide as we were going to take the gun punt , we left our boat shed and rowed underneath the ole swing bridge and then turned right to go around the Lumps , I well remember we startled some Lew that were sleeping on the saltings , these jumped up and with the towns lights in the background and my brother who was a far better shot than me at the time knocked one down at that early hour , retrieving was dead easy and we were soon back on our way .

We got to the Rond in good time and met up with the two brothers who have now sadly passed on , it was decided I stayed on the Rond and the three of them went a bit further up to where the Curlew flight over , as it got lighter I had a fair bit of shooting and very little to show for the amount of cartridges fired and I could hear a number of shots being fired where the other three were , when the flight finished the three came walking back on top of the wall carrying what look like a load of Curlew , these were stored in the punt and then it was time to walk the marshes for rabbits , they had permission to walk some of the marshes but not sure if the permission was for all the marshes we walked , still the only person we saw was the marsh man who lived in a isolated house near the Rond and he was happy with a brace of fresh Rabbits , we had a nice lot of Rabbits and also as a bonus we gathered a carrier bag full of marsh mushrooms , all these were again stored in the punt and with the tide beginning to ebb it was time to make a move to get back , we said our good byes and the two brothers walked back and was going to pick up there share later on that day , now 60 years later , the two brothers are long gone , the marsh man and his house are gone , the Waders are now off the list , the gun punts and the free shooting is also long gone , the only thing that haven't gone is the memory of that September the 1st and I hope that will still be with me until I am gone .

All the best and have a good season    MM  

That's an amazing tale MM. Shooting certainly isn't like that anymore. 2 questions: 1, did you eat the waders and 2, if so, how did they taste?

Up until last year, which was my first time out on a marsh, I hadn't even seen a Curlew or really acknowledged that they existed in this day and age. I knew the name from a bird watching book I used to read as a child.

One experience I can recall from last year was a being sat out on an island of grass in the middle of the mud before the sun had risen. I was sat amongst a flock of somethings quietly chirping away and sometimes walking about. As It was dark I couldn't make out the species only the wader-esque outlines against the glimmer of the wet mud. As the sun rose I found myself sat in the middle of a 15 strong flock of Curlew just a few feet away. Seemingly not bothered by my presence. One by one they each took off and flew up with that eerie Curlew call.

Same trip produced a fly past by a barn owl not more than 2m from the end of the barrel. He did starle me and I almost raised the gun thinking it was a duck.

14 hours ago, Gerry78 said:

First off all be safe and enjoy yourself if your on The foreshore Regarding tides etc you will enjoy sitting with your ESS watching the sunrise and hopefully get a duck 🦆 or 2 for the pot You will always remember your dogs first retrieve months of hard work finally pays off It’s been a few years since I went out the first morning September 1st as other posts have said usually the weather now is too warm As the season progresses when the weather gets colder and windier the shooting usually picks up Good luck and above all Enjoy 😉 Years of early morning duck shooting you always learn something New 

Many thanks 😊.

It's been a tiresome few months getting her into some sort of form. If I had put this much effort into my own higher education I may have been starting this season with a purdey sxs and not a ATA semi auto. 

I took her to a local clay ground today for a refresher course on just how noisy shotguns are. After the shooting had finished we stayed behind and practised some retrives following a real shot. Steady as a rock thankfully and she didn't run in. Retrieve was disappointing but she had been in the car for an hour and stopped to pee causing her to drop the dummy on the return.

[Poor Shot]

On 27/08/2022 at 22:56, Krico woodcock said:

I'll be out.  I'm 42 years old and have been going out on 1st since I was 14.. haven't missed a 1st in any of them years.  Hope to get a few duck,  maybe a big Canada. Up until only a few years ago I couldn't sleep a wink night before 1st with anticipation, that has wore off a bit, thank god. But still get a buzz seeing a silhouette of a duck approaching,  in the dark of first morning,  a shot, retrieve for dog, first duck of season.  

I turn 30 next year so I'm a little late to the party but I'm determined to get out on the first and last days of every season going forward for as long as I can.

[marsh man]

9 hours ago, Poor Shot said:

That's an amazing tale MM. Shooting certainly isn't like that anymore. 2 questions: 1, did you eat the waders and 2, if so, how did they taste?

Up until last year, which was my first time out on a marsh, I hadn't even seen a Curlew or really acknowledged that they existed in this day and age. I knew the name from a bird watching book I used to read as a child.

One experience I can recall from last year was a being sat out on an island of grass in the middle of the mud before the sun had risen. I was sat amongst a flock of somethings quietly chirping away and sometimes walking about. As It was dark I couldn't make out the species only the wader-esque outlines against the glimmer of the wet mud. As the sun rose I found myself sat in the middle of a 15 strong flock of Curlew just a few feet away. Seemingly not bothered by my presence. One by one they each took off and flew up with that eerie Curlew call.

Same trip produced a fly past by a barn owl not more than 2m from the end of the barrel. He did starle me and I almost raised the gun thinking it was a duck.

Many thanks 😊.

 

Good morning Poor Shot .... First of all I will answer your first question about eating Curlew and waders in general , we have all heard the story many , many times about putting a brick in the oven at the same time while roasting a Curlew and when cooked you chuck away the Curlew and keep the brick , this had been around for years and is only partly true. It all depends on the time of the year and what they had been feeding on , our early ones were shot in September and been feeding mainly on the grazing marshes , even in those days the biggest problem we had if it was warm was keeping the flies off , these were plucked straight away and put in our gas oven whole with a onion inside and a bit of bacon on its breast , these were cooked slowly and in September they were edible , not every ones taste but for us they were o k , as time wore on into October then things started to change , they would then spend most of the time on the mud flats and you could smell the mud from the outside before you started to pluck them , you might have just about got away with eating a young one but a ole one was not for the faint heart'd .

This was roughly the same with other waders but with Shanks and other small wading birds we just cut the breasts off and stuck them in a pie or slow cooked in a casserole , another bird we ate lot were Coots , these didn't come on the estuary in any numbers before we had the severe winter in 1962 /3 , this was when all the Broads froze up and the Coots and wild fowl came down on the estuary for open water in huge numbers , we had vast rafts of Coot and they were fairly easy to get on to a few , these you didn't pluck , you skinned them and they had a layer of fat on the breast so all you had to do was again put a onion inside and slow roost it , my ole grand father was a cook on the fishing boats and he could make anything taste like the best cut of beef and when he was cooking what we shot the smell alone that came out of his small kitchen was something to look forward to .

You will encounter many sights and sounds the average person would never get the chance to see and hear when you turn out for your early , late or under the moons flights , these will go in your memory bank and in years to come you will be able to tell your children and grand children about how things once were in past ,

GOOD LUCK  ( You have only a few days to go before your big day arrive )

[London Best]

I agree with Marsh Man on this one. Early season Curlew were alright to eat through September, but after that we found a curry was the best treatment. The later the season, the stronger the curry needed to be. Redshank, too, were OK early on but I never bothered with them later in the season. 
Of course, the best eating waders were golden or grey plover, with goldies being the better of the two.

[Krico woodcock]

11 hours ago, Poor Shot said:

I turn 30 next year so I'm a little late to the party but I'm determined to get out on the first and last days of every season going forward for as long as I can.

Good stuff,  I hope you get to knock a duck or two, and your young bitch gets her retrieve.. there is nothing  like knocking a first duck for a young dog. From that moment on , hopefully everything falls into place with her, that bond will be made twice as strong between you.. get out as often as you can,  and with a young dog it will be addictive,  because you will see her improving every day out. 

[marsh man]

8 minutes ago, London Best said:

I agree with Marsh Man on this one. Early season Curlew were alright to eat through September, but after that we found a curry was the best treatment. The later the season, the stronger the curry needed to be. Redshank, too, were OK early on but I never bothered with them later in the season. 
Of course, the best eating waders were golden or grey plover, with goldies being the better of the two.

I dare say you have tried Whimbrel in your time L B , again very much like the Curlew , after that 62 / 63 Winter we had wildfowl come down on the estuary we had never seen before , we were brought up with the fact that the only duck you couldn't shoot were Shelduck , anything else that resembled a duck was fair game , I shudder to think what went in the bag that last month in 63 , me and my mate were both laid off work as appreniced bricklayers due to the weather as we had nothing else to do all our time was spent around the estuary , wading birds were lying dead around the shoreline as the mud was like concrete and the duck were watcher thin , we were only 16 and hungry to shoot whatever duck came our way , we must have had most or, nearly all the diving duck and the one I do remember which as it turned out was the only one I had ever shot was a Eider duck , these were a sea duck and rarely came in land but the one I got had got it's bearings wrong and sadly paid the price .

[London Best]

1 hour ago, marsh man said:

I dare say you have tried Whimbrel in your time L B , again very much like the Curlew , after that 62 / 63 Winter we had wildfowl come down on the estuary we had never seen before , we were brought up with the fact that the only duck you couldn't shoot were Shelduck , anything else that resembled a duck was fair game , I shudder to think what went in the bag that last month in 63 , me and my mate were both laid off work as appreniced bricklayers due to the weather as we had nothing else to do all our time was spent around the estuary , wading birds were lying dead around the shoreline as the mud was like concrete and the duck were watcher thin , we were only 16 and hungry to shoot whatever duck came our way , we must have had most or, nearly all the diving duck and the one I do remember which as it turned out was the only one I had ever shot was a Eider duck , these were a sea duck and rarely came in land but the one I got had got it's bearings wrong and sadly paid the price .

I missed the ‘62/3 Winter on the coast because I was only 14 and as we lived inland I could not get to the coast. But I remember great flocks of starving pigeons feeding on Brussels on the market gardens.
My first coastal shooting trip would have been in 1965. Once I had passed my driving test in ‘66 I shot the coast regularly.
Yes, you are right, I have certainly eaten Whimbrel.

[marsh man]

4 minutes ago, London Best said:

I missed the ‘62/3 Winter on the coast because I was only 14 and as we lived inland I could not get to the coast. But I remember great flocks of starving pigeons feeding on Brussels on the market gardens.
My first coastal shooting trip would have been in 1965. Once I had passed my driving test in ‘66 I shot the coast regularly.
Yes, you are right, I have certainly eaten Whimbrel.

As you say the Pigeons were starving and rather than waste our hard earnt cartridges we shot them up our allotment on the Sprouts with our B S A Airsporter air guns , these were skin and bone and not worth eating , everywhere was iced up and you could walk in a straight line across every marsh as the dyes were frozen solid , would I be right in thinking that at the end of that Winter it was the first time ever that W A G B I put a hard weather ban on , mind you time the ban went on the damage had been done .

This is a photo in 1963 when the ice started to break up and came down our river Yare.

[London Best]

There was a Winter about 1979?? when the marsh had ice flows coming ashore and birds were in poor condition. My (failing) memory remembers that as the first hard weather voluntary ban, but I may well be wrong.

[Krico woodcock]

Winter  2009/2010 had a cold weather ban here  in Ireland  voluntary first then mandatory only for a couple of weeks. Winter 2010/2011 starting freezing  hard around 3rd week of November. Cold weather ban the whole month of December,  and lifted around first week of January. It was very severe minus15° at night and minus 10 during the day.. a whole month is a long time not to be shooting in middle of season.  But I had no interest in shooting game or fowl  when they were struggling as it was. That winter decimated snipe,  but woodcock were better able to manage,  and any bit of open, running water was black with duck. .. I well remember shooting woodcock when  the ban lifted and they were in good plump condition. One day right in middle of that freeze ,I was giving a lad a hand to cut timber.  When we were walking down the lane five woodcock flittered up and nearly took are caps off. It was a bank sheltered by a few big palm trees,with a tick  blanket of moss on the ground, maybe 4 to 5 inches thick under palms, you could see where woodcock were probing in thick moss, and under the insulation of the moss,were small grubs..  the woodcock found them,  brilliant bird.. now I love a good hard cold snap,  there definitely does be some good sport to be got,  and duck and woodcock put on serious condition,  do be mud fat..But not like the prolonged conditions of them two winters. 

[grahamch]

Wont be out for first week,  theres a sodding pop festival in the fields behind the marsh where I shoot

[marsh man]

40 minutes ago, Krico woodcock said:

Winter  2009/2010 had a cold weather ban here  in Ireland  voluntary first then mandatory only for a couple of weeks. Winter 2010/2011 starting freezing  hard around 3rd week of November. Cold weather ban the whole month of December,  and lifted around first week of January. It was very severe minus15° at night and minus 10 during the day.. a whole month is a long time not to be shooting in middle of season.  But I had no interest in shooting game or fowl  when they were struggling as it was. That winter decimated snipe,  but woodcock were better able to manage,  and any bit of open, running water was black with duck. .. I well remember shooting woodcock when  the ban lifted and they were in good plump condition. One day right in middle of that freeze ,I was giving a lad a hand to cut timber.  When we were walking down the lane five woodcock flittered up and nearly took are caps off. It was a bank sheltered by a few big palm trees,with a tick  blanket of moss on the ground, maybe 4 to 5 inches thick under palms, you could see where woodcock were probing in thick moss, and under the insulation of the moss,were small grubs..  the woodcock found them,  brilliant bird.. now I love a good hard cold snap,  there definitely does be some good sport to be got,  and duck and woodcock put on serious condition,  do be mud fat..But not like the prolonged conditions of them two winters. 

London Best was right in saying there was a hard weather ban around 78 / 79 and I am pretty sure that one year we had two , I remember one of them because we didn't have a that harder spell , I think it work out that if any weather station up and down the country record 14 days of frost then a minimum of 7 days is enforced throughout the land , us on the East coast had it fairly mild compared to some and most of our water kept open , duck soon found the quite marshes and I watched the duck night after night piling into a flooded marsh , after a while the ban was lifted and I made sure I left off work in good time to enjoy what turned out one of ,if not the best flight of the season , duck came in nearly non stop and in those days I had a self imposed limit of 10 and I know on that night it was achieved and I called it a halt , one advantage of living beside the marshes and can go in a instant when the conditions look good , I also remember that after some others fowlers found where the duck were going it very soon returned back to normal with just a few duck going on when the wind was blowing from the right direction .

Where I worked was also good for holding a lot of Woodcock as we had several Pine woods with bracken underneath , this the Woodcock loved as it kept the ground from freezing , I know one hardish spell we had I had to take the digger to dig out a ole salt glaze drain we had that ran over the park land , I dug the length of drains out and left all the fresh soil beside the trench over night , the next morning we turned up and I had never seen so many Woodcock in one place , they were all over the fresh soil looking for worms or anything fresh to eat , we used to have two back to back Woodcock days but now my ex boss no longer have these and he tell the guns on his pep talk on a shoot day that they can shoot a Woodcock as long as they take it home and eat it , this was obeyed as we only now see the odd Woodcock hanging up in the game larder . 

[Lloyd90]

On 27/08/2022 at 13:57, Poor Shot said:

Many thanks. It's Bristol channel and I don't think we suffer too much with bitey flying things but horse flies may be an issue. If there's a horse fly anywhere in a 10 mile radius it will almost certainly make a beeline straight for me.

Thanks MM. It's exactly that, a run down of the kit and dog before things really start moving. I fully expect to spend the morning faffing about and missing any passing ducks.

I hadn't thought about it but a trip down on Wednesday evening with a pair of binos may be worth while though it's not an especially productive marsh until the migratory birds arrive. Perhaps a few mallard and Canada geese. Also many, many shelduck ***.

There are traditionally plenty of Snipe though so a walk through the Marsh grass with the dog may produce some quick shooting. Though dog walkers on the sea wall and bird watchers walking onto the marsh may prevent that.

 

What club are you out with? 👍🏻