Vanishing Pigeon

[cloudwalker]

Have been out over various farms in Northants/beds in the past few weeks, 1000's of Pigeon about but wouldn't decoy

I was hoping that once the flocks had broken up we would be in for some good days

But on most places we have been shooting on the vast nnumbers have just vanished

I was reading another thread and 1000's seem to have turned up up Norfolk.

Are these birds from Europe heading back for the breeding season

Has any other Midland shooters noticed the same?

[Sprinter]

Still seem to be plenty around. However after half a day at them they all ****** off for a few days. I guess they don't come back until they have been disturbed elsewhere ?

[bob300w]

Still seem to be plenty around. However after half a day at them they all ****** off for a few days. I guess they don't come back until they have been disturbed elsewhere ?

That sounds the most likely explanation, they have found food where they are not being disturbed, there is a lot of food about for them at the moment, same thing happens here.

[Suffolk shooter]

We are still seeing big flocks round here at the moment and one or two shots and poof off they go for a few days and then return. AS Bob300W said, there's a lot of food about and they can pick and choose where they go.

 

This wet weather we're currently getting won't help, but another week or two and you should start to see them breaking into smaller flocks.

 

On the subject of Migratory birds, whilst there are some that say this happens, there are others who don't agree with the theory due to the lack of harsh winters (In relation to the good old days). If you look at threads over the winter months, you will see that some areas of the country suffer for lack of shooting opportunity whilst others seem to have endless sport (Although the bags aren't generally big), due to the flocking up problem and amount of available food.

 

Keep at it as you never know you might just hit the jackpot.

 

SS

[Highlander]

Pigeons are always there...you've just gotta know where to look, or more accurately keep looking 'til you find 'em! Been out all morning today just looking and the best numbers are on set asides and grass/clover fields. Last week they were all over the rape. New pea drillings should show some soon.

 

Greek friend of mine calls them 'ghost birds' pretty apt really!

 

I think it's pretty well accepted that we don't get or lose pigeons to migration here in the UK but we've certainly seen some size/colour variations these last few weeks which the old boys used to say was the difference between our native Woody and those migrants from Scandinavia.

[Suffolk shooter]

In some areas the rape is just over pigeon height now and hides them superbly. I was out at the weekend and just standing on the edge of the field couldn't see any until I walked in alittle bit and then the field erupted.

 

They are there, you just need to look. As Highlander says alot are on the clover, grass set aside/margins at the moment, starting to see one or two fields drilled recently are now getting visited as well.

 

SS

[cloudwalker]

Well I hope they do come back. It has been the most frustrating season I can remember for many years.

[mossy835]

they have not giving much sport over the winter, where i am.

[anser2]

According to the BTO and DEFRA wood pigeons do not migrate in or out of the UK ( but they do to France and Spain in winter ). But on several occasions I have seen thousands comming in off the sea on the Norfolk coast. While I missed it several wildfowling friends recon they saw a lot comming in off the sea in late November this winter. Of course these might have been comming down from Yorkshire. But I think we realy do not know. I do not think they are comming from Norway or sweden as I have never seen any numbers there and there is not a lot of arable farming there. Denmark or Poland might be a source of these migrant birds.

 

 

The trouble is about 1000 wood pigeons get ringed every year, of which around 5-600 are nestlings and the majority of the others are ringed in summer when the pigeons are in low bushes nesting. I suspect less than 100 are ringed in winter ( I have never ringed one in winter as they are uncatchable unless you have a cannon net ). Its those winter birds that are important to be ringed to see if we do get migrants. Its time DEFRA got togeather with the BTO and started a project cannon netting pigeons in winter , as they are hunted birds they will give quick recoveries and if nothing else would help to shed light on how they move around the country.

[Traztaz]

Our large flocks of woodies here in Germany over the winter are supposed to come off the mountains in Norway.Now if this is true or not I dont know , large flocks in winter is certainly true, where they come from , no idea!!

[Sundowner]

Our large flocks of woodies here in Germany over the winter are supposed to come off the mountains in Norway.Now if this is true or not I dont know , large flocks in winter is certainly true, where they come from , no idea!!

 

 

Hi Traztaz,

over here there are mostly resident birds!

Right now, I am hard pressed to get 3 or 4 birds up here, a couple of days ago I was watching 3 skyrats gorging themselves on Ivy Berries right next to a rape field

 

Traztaz, wo bist du denn in deutschland? Ich bin in Muenchen zur schule gegangen!

[garyb]

Poor shooting in Herts right now... Wasted another couple of hours yesterday and didn't even see one woodie.

[Traztaz]

I am in Osnabrueck .

[Highlander]

According to the BTO and DEFRA wood pigeons do not migrate in or out of the UK ( but they do to France and Spain in winter ). But on several occasions I have seen thousands comming in off the sea on the Norfolk coast. While I missed it several wildfowling friends recon they saw a lot comming in off the sea in late November this winter. Of course these might have been comming down from Yorkshire. But I think we realy do not know. I do not think they are comming from Norway or sweden as I have never seen any numbers there and there is not a lot of arable farming there. Denmark or Poland might be a source of these migrant birds.

The trouble is about 1000 wood pigeons get ringed every year, of which around 5-600 are nestlings and the majority of the others are ringed in summer when the pigeons are in low bushes nesting. I suspect less than 100 are ringed in winter ( I have never ringed one in winter as they are uncatchable unless you have a cannon net ). Its those winter birds that are important to be ringed to see if we do get migrants. Its time DEFRA got togeather with the BTO and started a project cannon netting pigeons in winter , as they are hunted birds they will give quick recoveries and if nothing else would help to shed light on how they move around the country.

 

Anser2 I think you'll find that satelitte surveillance put paid to the old idea that woodpigeons migrate over the north sea or for that matter from anywhere else. Continental pigeons do migrate south following well established flightlines which are exploited by many shooters in countries along their routes. The Spanish for example shoot pigeons flighting through the Pyrennes but are only allowed to shoot them going one way (I'm not sure if it's when they arrive or leave but it would probably make sense if it were the latter). Continental pigeons are not quite the agri-pest that our UK brand are and many countries operate closed seasons which is why many foreigners come to the UK to shoot. For them it's a bonanza.

[anser2]

Thanks highlander for the info. I was not aware of any radio tagging wood pigeon projects across Europe. Could you please give me some reffrences to follow this up. This still does not account for the mass arrivals of wood pigeons on the coast. There was a report in Norfolk Bird Report many years ago of 10s of thousands of pigeons comming in over the coast at Gt Yarmouth over 4-5 days. I have witnessed this several times along the N Norfolk Coast and over the Wash in smaller numbers , but still totaling several thousand. I have also often seen small flocks heading east out over the sea in early spring. Officaly these are lost birds wandering out over the sea , but somehow pigeons getting lost seems strange to me. They always seem to know where they are going when ever I chase them.

 

I suspect that this coastal migration may not be an anunal event , more a regular , but chance event perhaps caused by the wind direction or perhaps bad weather. Like many others I often shoot " small dark pigeons " , but of course that does not mean they come from abroad. Young birds are often darker than adults and there may some natural variation in the population. This exists with female wigeon with some birds being a rich brown wile others are a grey brown.

 

I still think it would be a worthwile project to ring several thousand pigeons in winter as for a major sporting bird and a very important arable farm pest we still know very little about their movements - if any. I am not sure what the ring revovery rate is for pigeons , but I would suspect it would be similar to duck which give between 10-17% recoveries , a high rate compared with unhunted species. The high recovery rate would give quick results from any such project.