Impatience

[adzyvilla]

Currently I'm only dreaming of some roost shooting and decoying the remnants of maize strips, but I'll have to wait as my two farms are strictly off limits until the end of the pheasant season.

Not to say that I haven't been doing a bit of impromptu recon in the local area. Mid and central south Norfolk so far seems to be enjoying slightly increased numbers of pigeon making the most of the abundant ivy berries and other natural food sources in the woods and hedgerows, but mostly steering clear of the very average rape fields that dot the landscape here abouts. This last week I have seen separate flocks of 60-70 in two different areas (one North and one south of dereham), and my favourite roost wood hosting well over 50. 

Hopefully this is of some interest to local PW members. Would be keen to find out if the woodies are bothering with rape yet in other localities.

[old'un]

About three weeks back I was seeing a fair few around a couple of rape fields but this last week they seemed to have disappeared.

Had to go out today and I stopped at a couple of fields, not a bird to be seen.

 

[adzyvilla]

I didn't see much when walking the dogs earlier today, perhaps they are sheltering from the wind....

[archi]

Please send some from the Dereham area to Lyng please

[mellors]

Plenty on rape here. 

Not really committed yet though put them off and they don't come back. 

So much rain and very few dry days doesn't help. 

Hopefully dry cold days coming soon. 

[old'un]

6 minutes ago, adzyvilla said:

I didn't see much when walking the dogs earlier today, perhaps they are sheltering from the wind....

I doubt it, just not the numbers about, there are 3 big rape fields not a mile from my house, which I know well, in the past its been a haven for pigeons, think this year I have seen about 10 on it.

Just now, mellors said:

Plenty on rape here. 

Not really committed yet though put them off and they don't come back. 

So much rain and very few dry days doesn't help. 

Hopefully dry cold days coming soon. 

think you have hit the nail on the head, the fields around here are just mud, pigeons dont like getting thier feet and feathers balled up with mud.

[adzyvilla]

Yes the wet conditions won't have helped, anything that wasn't drilled early seems to be mud and standing water. Saying that, I'm currently sitting in my parents front room looking out of the window to the west looking over a big rape field in the distance and seeing a fair bit of blue-grey toing and froing in the dying daylight. I can hear a gas gun going in that direction so the wind and noise are probably keeping them moving about.

[old'un]

Just now, adzyvilla said:

Yes the wet conditions won't have helped, anything that wasn't drilled early seems to be mud and standing water. Saying that, I'm currently sitting in my parents front room looking out of the window to the west looking over a big rape field in the distance and seeing a fair bit of blue-grey toing and froing in the dying daylight. I can hear a gas gun going in that direction so the wind and noise are probably keeping them moving about.

blimey, I would have thought they would be in bed by now?

[mellors]

think you have hit the nail on the head, the fields around here are just mud, pigeons dont like getting thier feet and feathers balled up with mud.

I think also there's so much stubble and odd bean fields they couldn't get on and are still flooded or inaccessible. 

There will be huge acres of spring drilling come march . 

[marsh man]

Talking to a ex P W member ( answer 2 )  down the marsh this afternoon there was a constant stream of Pigeons going into the wood a good 100 yds behind us , he had a little go yesterday afternoon in that strong wind and the bulk of the Pigeons were going over my field and he was on land the G Y W A rent , even so he had a nice lot of shooting and just got in double figures .

Around here the o s r fields are the last resort for Pigeons and the main diet are the fresh lifted Sugar Beet fields , trouble is a lot of the fields are connected with game shooting and they are happy to leave them alone on beet tops rather than put them on to the o s r fields , but as for numbers , not sure with the rest of Norfolk but in my little neck of the woods we are seeing very good numbers and I might have a little go myself if the weather stay dry and above mild as Pigeon shooting in the cold is no longer my favorite past time .    MM 

[adzyvilla]

35 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Talking to a ex P W member ( answer 2 )  down the marsh this afternoon there was a constant stream of Pigeons going into the wood a good 100 yds behind us , he had a little go yesterday afternoon in that strong wind and the bulk of the Pigeons were going over my field and he was on land the G Y W A rent , even so he had a nice lot of shooting and just got in double figures .

Around here the o s r fields are the last resort for Pigeons and the main diet are the fresh lifted Sugar Beet fields , trouble is a lot of the fields are connected with game shooting and they are happy to leave them alone on beet tops rather than put them on to the o s r fields , but as for numbers , not sure with the rest of Norfolk but in my little neck of the woods we are seeing very good numbers and I might have a little go myself if the weather stay dry and above mild as Pigeon shooting in the cold is no longer my favorite past time .    MM 

Thanks MM. Not a massive amount of harvested beet round here yet, and it all seems to be in the wrong place (if you are a gamekeeper anyway). I do know of one field harvested a while back that is really wet and rutted that has been hosting huge numbers of geese.

[marsh man]

13 minutes ago, adzyvilla said:

Thanks MM. Not a massive amount of harvested beet round here yet, and it all seems to be in the wrong place (if you are a gamekeeper anyway). I do know of one field harvested a while back that is really wet and rutted that has been hosting huge numbers of geese.

We have got a lot of geese ( Pinks ) down the marsh and they were still lifting and carting beet off to the factory when I came home about 4 pm , tell yer these boys work around the clock and must knock up some good money this time of the year , I dare say if the lifted beet fields are quite over Christmas you could see all the geese having there Christmas dinner on the small pieces of the leftover beet ,   MERRY CHRISTMAS .

[pigeon controller]

We have a good number around us at present on the rape, we also have a good number of hawthorn berries, Ivy, etc. 

Rape is part of the cabbage family and not a substantial food , thirty years ago cabbage and sprouts were the mainstay of winter food for pigeons along with berries. I’m not sure what the effect of me eating brassicas would be for the ozone layer..

Observing the pigeons on our rape they do tend to land on the drier surfaces and eat the rape confirming the theory that they want to stay clean. 

[marsh man]

48 minutes ago, pigeon controller said:

We have a good number around us at present on the rape, we also have a good number of hawthorn berries, Ivy, etc. 

Rape is part of the cabbage family and not a substantial food , thirty years ago cabbage and sprouts were the mainstay of winter food for pigeons along with berries. I’m not sure what the effect of me eating brassicas would be for the ozone layer..

Observing the pigeons on our rape they do tend to land on the drier surfaces and eat the rape confirming the theory that they want to stay clean. 

Interesting to know what the Pigeons were feeding on in other regions in the Winter months before the onset of Rape , which now seem a very long time ago , we did have Sprouts and Cabbages but these were mainly grown by market gardeners and they would do there best to keep the Pigeons off , we shot good numbers around this way on Kale that was grown for cattle feed , it's been a long time now but I remember the severe winter in 62 / 63 when we shot starving Pigeons with our B S A Airsporter on the greens we had on our allotment , these had very little meat on them and smelt of whatever Greens they had been eating , that Winter must had killed more Pigeons than any amount of shooting , mind you that was well before any battery operated devices were invented and any serious decoying were only done by very few people , that was now 60 years ago and I wonder if Pigeons will still be shot in 60 years time , come to think of it , I wander if anything will be shot in 60 years time . 

All the best  P C                         MM

[adzyvilla]

Out beating today on my patch. First drive was a wood that was bordered on two sides by the remnants of a harvested potato field that was hosting a flock of at least 250 pigeons, which scattered to neighbouring woods as we approached. Next drive on the other side of the estate and blanking in pushed up another large flock that swirled around for a bit before settling in a big conifer wood that isn't shot. Woodies numbers looking good in mid norfolk, at least at the moment. Hope they are still there come the end of the month...