Rape

[yickdaz]

Just wondering if there has Been any change around the country  is anyone seeing birds on rape after the recent cold snap 

[jall25]

Not a thing on the rape in North Derbyshire

[matone]

Been a hundred or two feeding on a block of fields I pass regularly for a week or two,Light snow cover the last couple of days and they were there until 1.30 this aft from early on.

About 50 this am on some that I shoot ,so will have a look am I think.

[maxwell]

Just had a message from the farmer, “ canny flock of pigeons on the rape”  County Durham area.

[mossy835]

not down here yet,

[aga man]

A few starting show interest here in East yorkshire but in the main they are still on berries etc.

Usually Xmas onwards here

[old'un]

went for drive round Wednesday, few birds about but most were on acorns/berries, found about 50 on one rape field but as soon as I climbed the gate they were gone and off into the distance, looked at it again about two hours later and not a bird.

Think they will be late getting onto the rape this year, still plenty of other more nutritional food available, rape is a last resort food for pigeons.

[dead eye alan]

Saw about 50 on one field 2.0pm yesterday so I'm just eating breakfast and off to have a look!

[yickdaz]

3 hours ago, dead eye alan said:

Saw about 50 on one field 2.0pm yesterday so I'm just eating breakfast and off to have a look!

Well this snow will push them on to it so worth it

[old'un]

2 hours ago, yickdaz said:

Well this snow will push them on to it so worth it

What snow? Nothing here, what I have noticed over the years is when they get heavy snow in Scotland and into Yorkshire we see a big increase in the size of the pigeon flocks.

[yickdaz]

17 minutes ago, old'un said:

What snow? Nothing here, what I have noticed over the years is when they get heavy snow in Scotland and into Yorkshire we see a big increase in the size of the pigeon flocks.

There is where I am 

[Centrepin]

20 minutes ago, yickdaz said:

There is where I am 

That's good camouflage, verging on brilliant.

[old'un]

Yep, I did hear on the news that the far north had some snow, so were the pigeons piling into it?

 

1 hour ago, yickdaz said:

There is where I am 

 

1 hour ago, Centrepin said:

That's good camouflage, verging on brilliant.

dead eye alan must be into them, he went out after breakfast and he’s not been on for 7 hours.

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by old'un

[yickdaz]

I looked around a few different areas nothing on the first two areas then found birds sat in a small wood  and the trees surrounding  the field about 300 in total i gave them an hour from 12.30 to 1.30pm  managed 6 then the snow came down again and that was it 

[old'un]

4 minutes ago, yickdaz said:

I looked around a few different areas nothing on the first two areas then found birds sat in a small wood  and the trees surrounding  the field about 300 in total i gave them an hour from 12.30 to 1.30pm  managed 6 then the snow came down again and that was it 

typical bloody pigeon, never play the game.

[maxwell]

Set up at 7.30 and -2 on the dash, 7.45 about 20 arrived to the middle of the field with 1 coming to the decoys, nothing else until 10.00 when a flock of 60+ then not another bird, I packed up at 15.00 with 3 in the bag, it never got above freezing today and even my decoys frosted over in the winter sun 

[matone]

Ten out of ten for effort ! It was bloomin cold today...I had a couple of walks around and shot one ....

[old'un]

12 hours ago, maxwell said:

Set up at 7.30 and -2 on the dash, 7.45 about 20 arrived to the middle of the field with 1 coming to the decoys, nothing else until 10.00 when a flock of 60+ then not another bird, I packed up at 15.00 with 3 in the bag, it never got above freezing today and even my decoys frosted over in the winter sun 

71/2 hours is farrrr to long for my liking but got to give it to you for sticking it out for that long, if I have not seen any movement for a couple of hours I go and look somewhere else or go home.

Dont know how long you have been chasing pigeons but I find that if I hit the field much before 10.00am the day is usually over by midday.

[marsh man]

13 hours ago, maxwell said:

Set up at 7.30 and -2 on the dash, 7.45 about 20 arrived to the middle of the field with 1 coming to the decoys, nothing else until 10.00 when a flock of 60+ then not another bird, I packed up at 15.00 with 3 in the bag, it never got above freezing today and even my decoys frosted over in the winter sun 

That to me is a feat of endurance , and if it was left up to me I would have certainly put a nought on the end of your 3 and to be honest you would have deserved even more , now going by past experience I found it a total waste of time while there was a sharp frost still on the ground and I wouldn't had bothered till at least the frost had lifted , this would had been after sitting in the comfort of my motor and having a cup of coffee while listening to the radio and not in a cold hide , if and when the frost had lifted and I had convinced myself it was worth going then I would had set myself a time frame of say two hours to see what sport would had been like , if very little action then I would have called it a day possibly before the two hours are even up , mind you , I am getting on a bit and going any day of the week is no longer a problem so I would sooner wait until the pigeons are hitting it hard and have been on it for at least a week and not the odd day , and even then I would had put them off first and then weighed up the options IF they returned .

GOOD LUCK the next time you go .

[clangerman]

plenty on the bird loving neighbours rape now and the best place for them saves me getting cold 

[maxwell]

12 hours ago, old'un said:

71/2 hours is farrrr to long for my liking but got to give it to you for sticking it out for that long, if I have not seen any movement for a couple of hours I go and look somewhere else or go home.

Dont know how long you have been chasing pigeons but I find that if I hit the field much before 10.00am the day is usually over by midday.

I agree, but this farm is a morning spot usually as it’s close to their roost, and yes I should have been gone well before dinner.

[maxwell]

11 hours ago, marsh man said:

That to me is a feat of endurance , and if it was left up to me I would have certainly put a nought on the end of your 3 and to be honest you would have deserved even more , now going by past experience I found it a total waste of time while there was a sharp frost still on the ground and I wouldn't had bothered till at least the frost had lifted , this would had been after sitting in the comfort of my motor and having a cup of coffee while listening to the radio and not in a cold hide , if and when the frost had lifted and I had convinced myself it was worth going then I would had set myself a time frame of say two hours to see what sport would had been like , if very little action then I would have called it a day possibly before the two hours are even up , mind you , I am getting on a bit and going any day of the week is no longer a problem so I would sooner wait until the pigeons are hitting it hard and have been on it for at least a week and not the odd day , and even then I would had put them off first and then weighed up the options IF they returned .

GOOD LUCK the next time you go .

I agree with all of the above and I would love to pick my days but work means I can only shoot weekends and with nowhere else showing birds I needed to show willing as there are too many door knockers around here.

[bunny_blaster]

I’ve never understood why people think the cold weather makes pigeons turn to rape. It’s a last resort food for them and with the mega crop of acorns beechmast and berries about this year they won’t be on rape properly until well after Christmas. Most of the birds you will be seeing on rape this time of year will be small migratory flocks just passing through. This cold snap has certainly pushed a lot of birds south and here in Warwickshire/ south Birmingham I’ve seen plenty moving up high over the last week. We were game shooting on Saturday and there was a constant flight of pigeons coming over the shoot, well into the 1000’s came over throughout the day

[Old Boggy]

2 hours ago, bunny_blaster said:

I’ve never understood why people think the cold weather makes pigeons turn to rape. It’s a last resort food for them and with the mega crop of acorns beechmast and berries about this year they won’t be on rape properly until well after Christmas. Most of the birds you will be seeing on rape this time of year will be small migratory flocks just passing through. This cold snap has certainly pushed a lot of birds south and here in Warwickshire/ south Birmingham I’ve seen plenty moving up high over the last week. We were game shooting on Saturday and there was a constant flight of pigeons coming over the shoot, well into the 1000’s came over throughout the day

I agree. The last few pigeons that I have shot whilst roost shooting have contained a combination of acorns and ivy berries. All the while these are available, the rape will remain untouched, probably well into the new year I suspect. This is what has happened around here in previous years when there has been a good acorn harvest.

OB

[old'un]

2 hours ago, bunny_blaster said:

I’ve never understood why people think the cold weather makes pigeons turn to rape. It’s a last resort food for them and with the mega crop of acorns beechmast and berries about this year they won’t be on rape properly until well after Christmas. Most of the birds you will be seeing on rape this time of year will be small migratory flocks just passing through. This cold snap has certainly pushed a lot of birds south and here in Warwickshire/ south Birmingham I’ve seen plenty moving up high over the last week. We were game shooting on Saturday and there was a constant flight of pigeons coming over the shoot, well into the 1000’s came over throughout the day

Ive said this many times when people say we need a cold snap to push them onto the rape , I have perhaps shot just as many pigeons on mild-ish, overcast windy days in winter as I have when its been freezing cold with a sprinkling of snow, obviously the picture changes when we get a few inches of snow.

Also, these small groups of pigeons we are seeing on the rape fields are more than likely feeding on weeds.