| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 10:50 - May 15 with 4255 views | No9 |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 16:08 - May 13 by J2BLUE |
Who the hell wants to shoot birds? |
You would be surprised at how much people from the F inancial Servce companies in London are preparred to pay to come to East Anglia to shoot the pheasants & partriges that are bred by gamekeepers purely & simply to be shot by them.
Last time I heard the fee was £500 to a £1000 for a 4 bird bag
Not nice & the birds are not pleasant to eat |  | |  |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 10:53 - May 15 with 4253 views | Lord_Lucan |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 08:32 - May 15 by gordon |
I've spent many, many, hours of my life outside surveying, researching, and monitoring wild birds, and I've worked collaboratively with farmers and gamekeepers on various projects - some with really positive attitudes towards gathering data and contributing to research rather than just making lazy, thoughtless statements.
The facts are that Corvids very rarely 'kill' other mature birds - they are primarily scavengers, they will take lots of eggs, nestlings and fledgelings, but not enough to have much affect on songbird populations. Songbirds trends are just very different for different species - Goldfinch, Blackcap, Chiffchaff for example are all 2 or 3 times more abundant now than 20 years ago - this coincides with a period when Corvids have generally increased in abundance across the UK. There's no reason based on their ecology why those species should be less susceptible to nest predation than others.
But as I said, Corvids do have an effect on larger ground nesting birds like waders and gamebirds, and in areas which are good for waders, grey partridge or black grouse particularly, controlling corvids can have significant conservation benefits.
For the example of the ducklings - the reason e.g. Mallards have 2-3 broods a year with 10+ eggs is because they lose lots of the chicks to predators - that's their evolutionary strategy - churn out young which are difficult to protect and loads are lost to predation, but some make it through.
If the average adult female Mallard lays 2 broods per year (of ten eggs each), for let's say 5 productive breeding seasons, that's 100 chicks in a lifetime. To sustain the population requires probably somewhere between 3 or 4 of those 100 or so chicks to become adults. So unless you want the world to slowly fill up with Mallards, then you need a bit of predation to regulate numbers of prey species. [Post edited 15 May 2019 8:34]
|
What's happened to sparrows? |  |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 11:26 - May 15 with 4231 views | gordon |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 10:53 - May 15 by Lord_Lucan |
What's happened to sparrows? |
It's likely to be a number of interacting factors - House Sparrows need cracks / holes in old buildings to nest, dense vegetation like hedges and ivy or good shrubs to roost in, an abundance of weedy vegetation to provide a good supply of seeds, and insects to feed young. The challenge is that they rarely move much throughout the year, so they need it all more or less in the same area.
The trend in urban areas to tidy up, pave over gardens, rip out of hedges, and not allow rough, dense weedy vegetation to develop is driving part of the decline, as is the lack of suitable nest sites in newer houses.
I'd be surprised if cats are a significant contributor to the decline (I may be wrong though) - in the 1970s, when there were perhaps three or four times as many urban house sparrows, urban cat populations in the UK were (probably?) at comparable levels to today. The factors do interact though - as good nest sites and roost sites get harder to find, or they are in worse condition because there are less food sources, they wil become more vulnerable to predation from cats.
To test the affect of cats well you'd have to manipulate the level of cats (for example, trial 4 years of culling cats, then 4 years with no cull, and see how house sparrows respond - challenging to get permission to do!). It's much easier to investigate the effect of vegetation change or availability of nest sites, which may to some extent explain why those factors are more often linked to house sparrow decline. [Post edited 15 May 2019 11:31]
|  | | |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 11:31 - May 15 with 4219 views | GeoffSentence |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 10:50 - May 15 by No9 |
You would be surprised at how much people from the F inancial Servce companies in London are preparred to pay to come to East Anglia to shoot the pheasants & partriges that are bred by gamekeepers purely & simply to be shot by them.
Last time I heard the fee was £500 to a £1000 for a 4 bird bag
Not nice & the birds are not pleasant to eat |
This is why the idea of it being a country pursuit is so fallacious. Sure it takes place in the countryside, but it is wealthy city folk who roll out for the weekend to do it. |  |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 11:46 - May 15 with 4208 views | jeera |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 10:53 - May 15 by Lord_Lucan |
What's happened to sparrows? |
I've got them all here.
I don't get much of a variety of birds on my feeders at all but seem to be the mainstay of a hefty number of sparrows. Which is fine of course.
Both tree and house types. Dunnocks not so much.
Although a couple of times a year they seem to clear off altogether but then return to the same tree[s] and local houses. Again in numbers.
Dunno if Gordon can offer any insight to why that may be but they seem to know what they're doing. |  |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 11:52 - May 15 with 4201 views | bluelagos |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 11:46 - May 15 by jeera |
I've got them all here.
I don't get much of a variety of birds on my feeders at all but seem to be the mainstay of a hefty number of sparrows. Which is fine of course.
Both tree and house types. Dunnocks not so much.
Although a couple of times a year they seem to clear off altogether but then return to the same tree[s] and local houses. Again in numbers.
Dunno if Gordon can offer any insight to why that may be but they seem to know what they're doing. |
Genuine question.
Does putting up a feeder mean you get loads of bird sh1t? Would be nice to see some birds in the garden but I guess best position the feeder over flower beds if that is true?
Any, tips on feed and types of birds it attracts? |  |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 12:25 - May 15 with 4190 views | jeera |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 11:52 - May 15 by bluelagos |
Genuine question.
Does putting up a feeder mean you get loads of bird sh1t? Would be nice to see some birds in the garden but I guess best position the feeder over flower beds if that is true?
Any, tips on feed and types of birds it attracts? |
Bit of crap on the feeder but I just give it a jet of water every now and then. Not enough for it to be an issue tbh.
Every so often I will disinfect everything in a bucket, but that's ok too. For their sake rather than mine.
Seed of course*, mealworms, peanuts depending if you have bluetits/great tits around.
Fat balls/blocks.
I sometimes throw a handful of sultanas which are always popular. Sunflower seed...
*The cheap and nasty stuff is dust and nothing will touch it, but better mixes are available at reasonable money - especially the larger bags. [Post edited 15 May 2019 12:27]
| |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 12:26 - May 15 with 4188 views | WeWereZombies |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 11:52 - May 15 by bluelagos |
Genuine question.
Does putting up a feeder mean you get loads of bird sh1t? Would be nice to see some birds in the garden but I guess best position the feeder over flower beds if that is true?
Any, tips on feed and types of birds it attracts? |
Never noticed a preponderance of crud under my bird table so I think it is fine, I would have thought it takes a bit longer for the bird feed to pass through their system...
That being said I do wash the surface of the table regularly as they sometimes crap in amongst their own food, the disgusting perverts. |  |
| |
Login to get fewer ads
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 12:37 - May 15 with 4175 views | WeWereZombies |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 12:23 - May 14 by never_lose_the_faith |
@jeera
You can not reason with these people, they clearly dont know the facts at all otherwise why downvote me, when all I am doing is stating the truth.
Show them some pictures of crows pecking out week lambs eyes and disembarking them aswell.
I wish there was no harm at all to any humans or animals and we could all live happily on earth together, but I am a realist, life ain’t fair, you just have to look to nature for that, animals are the most savage going |
Can you post these pictures? Because I live amongst crofts each with hundreds of sheep (as well as a few cattle and horses) as well as a substantial population of crows and jackdaws and I have never seen a crow take out a lamb's eye. I have also never seen any crofters out hunting crows and they would do if they thought that they were a threat to their flock. Sounds like something that someone has told you that they thought someone else had said. [Post edited 15 May 2019 12:38]
| |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 12:47 - May 15 with 4165 views | jeera |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 12:37 - May 15 by WeWereZombies |
Can you post these pictures? Because I live amongst crofts each with hundreds of sheep (as well as a few cattle and horses) as well as a substantial population of crows and jackdaws and I have never seen a crow take out a lamb's eye. I have also never seen any crofters out hunting crows and they would do if they thought that they were a threat to their flock. Sounds like something that someone has told you that they thought someone else had said. [Post edited 15 May 2019 12:38]
|
Hitchcock once made a documentary about it.
Back to pigeons, if only people would eat them then surely there could be little argument.
Keep the numbers down and be less excuse to especially breed pheasants if 'hunters' were prepared to shoot those instead. Not so easy either and would provide an actual bit of effort, rather than releasing a batch of clumsy, confused birds into a field to be yelled at until they flap a couple of feet from the ground.
Dunno about crows. I can't imagine they taste great.. [Post edited 15 May 2019 12:50]
| |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 15:45 - May 15 with 4121 views | BiGDonnie |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 12:15 - May 14 by LKW15 |
indeed, sadly i think he is in the minority. Unfortunately mixing in his social circle has meant I've met plenty of bellends who have to use shooting animals as a penis extension |
Advise them to use something else, not sure the ladies would would like a dead bird on the end of a pecker. |  |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 15:47 - May 15 with 4117 views | SpruceMoose |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 12:26 - May 15 by WeWereZombies |
Never noticed a preponderance of crud under my bird table so I think it is fine, I would have thought it takes a bit longer for the bird feed to pass through their system...
That being said I do wash the surface of the table regularly as they sometimes crap in amongst their own food, the disgusting perverts. |
They sound a bit like J2 and Rommy in that regard |  |
| Pronouns: He/Him/His.
"Imagine being a heterosexual white male in Britain at this moment. How bad is that. Everything you say is racist, everything you say is homophobic. The Woke community have really f****d this country." | | Poll: | Selectamod |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 15:49 - May 15 with 4114 views | chicoazul |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 11:26 - May 15 by gordon |
It's likely to be a number of interacting factors - House Sparrows need cracks / holes in old buildings to nest, dense vegetation like hedges and ivy or good shrubs to roost in, an abundance of weedy vegetation to provide a good supply of seeds, and insects to feed young. The challenge is that they rarely move much throughout the year, so they need it all more or less in the same area.
The trend in urban areas to tidy up, pave over gardens, rip out of hedges, and not allow rough, dense weedy vegetation to develop is driving part of the decline, as is the lack of suitable nest sites in newer houses.
I'd be surprised if cats are a significant contributor to the decline (I may be wrong though) - in the 1970s, when there were perhaps three or four times as many urban house sparrows, urban cat populations in the UK were (probably?) at comparable levels to today. The factors do interact though - as good nest sites and roost sites get harder to find, or they are in worse condition because there are less food sources, they wil become more vulnerable to predation from cats.
To test the affect of cats well you'd have to manipulate the level of cats (for example, trial 4 years of culling cats, then 4 years with no cull, and see how house sparrows respond - challenging to get permission to do!). It's much easier to investigate the effect of vegetation change or availability of nest sites, which may to some extent explain why those factors are more often linked to house sparrow decline. [Post edited 15 May 2019 11:31]
|
Excellent knowledge, thank you! |  |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 15:54 - May 15 with 4108 views | never_lose_the_faith |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 12:37 - May 15 by WeWereZombies |
Can you post these pictures? Because I live amongst crofts each with hundreds of sheep (as well as a few cattle and horses) as well as a substantial population of crows and jackdaws and I have never seen a crow take out a lamb's eye. I have also never seen any crofters out hunting crows and they would do if they thought that they were a threat to their flock. Sounds like something that someone has told you that they thought someone else had said. [Post edited 15 May 2019 12:38]
|
Or that I have seen it myself and you haven’t, please don’t start telling me what I have and have not seen.
I don’t know how to upload photos, but just type in google, lambs eyes pecked out by crows | | | |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 15:56 - May 15 with 4106 views | SpruceMoose |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 15:54 - May 15 by never_lose_the_faith |
Or that I have seen it myself and you haven’t, please don’t start telling me what I have and have not seen.
I don’t know how to upload photos, but just type in google, lambs eyes pecked out by crows |
Can't blame crows for doing what comes naturally. These tight Farmers need to spend less time campaigning for Brexit and spend more time fixing safety goggles to their livestock. | |
| Pronouns: He/Him/His.
"Imagine being a heterosexual white male in Britain at this moment. How bad is that. Everything you say is racist, everything you say is homophobic. The Woke community have really f****d this country." | | Poll: | Selectamod |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 16:03 - May 15 with 4100 views | never_lose_the_faith |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 15:56 - May 15 by SpruceMoose |
Can't blame crows for doing what comes naturally. These tight Farmers need to spend less time campaigning for Brexit and spend more time fixing safety goggles to their livestock. |
Mate I am just stating the facts, that’s all.
Unfortunately from what humans have done in the past and present does mean that we do have to look after the natural world, and keep an eye on its numbers, even culling if need be.
We have to step in now and then if we think that the ecosystem is getting heavily unbalanced, as we are the reason for this in the first place, so it is so naive and dangerous to try and stop this. | | | |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 16:07 - May 15 with 4097 views | SpruceMoose |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 16:03 - May 15 by never_lose_the_faith |
Mate I am just stating the facts, that’s all.
Unfortunately from what humans have done in the past and present does mean that we do have to look after the natural world, and keep an eye on its numbers, even culling if need be.
We have to step in now and then if we think that the ecosystem is getting heavily unbalanced, as we are the reason for this in the first place, so it is so naive and dangerous to try and stop this. |
How about culling some livestock then? There's far too much of that around. Or how about turning some of those cultivated fields back to nature rather than having acres of wildlife free mono-cultures?
Let's not pretend this is about nature. It's about profit. | |
| Pronouns: He/Him/His.
"Imagine being a heterosexual white male in Britain at this moment. How bad is that. Everything you say is racist, everything you say is homophobic. The Woke community have really f****d this country." | | Poll: | Selectamod |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 16:24 - May 15 with 4090 views | never_lose_the_faith |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 16:07 - May 15 by SpruceMoose |
How about culling some livestock then? There's far too much of that around. Or how about turning some of those cultivated fields back to nature rather than having acres of wildlife free mono-cultures?
Let's not pretend this is about nature. It's about profit. |
I’m not arguing about any points you are making, I was just saying that I think that shooting ban might not be a good thing, I do not and never have shot anything myself and nor do I want animals to come to any harm.
But trust me , people who live in towns do far more damage to wildlife than any country folk do, where do you think all your shops, bars, restaurants, roads, cinemas came from, There wasn’t concrete naturally in the ground to build on, they would have killed millions of insects and in turn less food for birds etc. etc. etc. But woe betide a farmer keeping the ecosystem in check. | | | |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 16:30 - May 15 with 4089 views | SpruceMoose |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 16:24 - May 15 by never_lose_the_faith |
I’m not arguing about any points you are making, I was just saying that I think that shooting ban might not be a good thing, I do not and never have shot anything myself and nor do I want animals to come to any harm.
But trust me , people who live in towns do far more damage to wildlife than any country folk do, where do you think all your shops, bars, restaurants, roads, cinemas came from, There wasn’t concrete naturally in the ground to build on, they would have killed millions of insects and in turn less food for birds etc. etc. etc. But woe betide a farmer keeping the ecosystem in check. |
I love your idea that country folk don't ever use shops, bars, restaurants, roads or cinemas. | |
| Pronouns: He/Him/His.
"Imagine being a heterosexual white male in Britain at this moment. How bad is that. Everything you say is racist, everything you say is homophobic. The Woke community have really f****d this country." | | Poll: | Selectamod |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 16:33 - May 15 with 4081 views | never_lose_the_faith |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 16:30 - May 15 by SpruceMoose |
I love your idea that country folk don't ever use shops, bars, restaurants, roads or cinemas. |
On the brighter side of life, looks like we are getting Norwood, could be a great signing, and a great start the the summer transfer window.
Thoughts? | | | |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 17:34 - May 15 with 4063 views | Throbbe |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 17:16 - May 13 by WD19 |
Yes, but 'Dogstival'..........'Dogstival'..........
If there is shooting to be done then whoever thought up the name for that seems like a good place to start..... |
Quite. Especially when Woofstock is the obvious choice.
*sits back and awaits job offers from the TWTD marketing/advertising community* |  |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 21:53 - May 16 with 3997 views | WeWereZombies |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 15:54 - May 15 by never_lose_the_faith |
Or that I have seen it myself and you haven’t, please don’t start telling me what I have and have not seen.
I don’t know how to upload photos, but just type in google, lambs eyes pecked out by crows |
I have googled it and have to say that I think you are making mountains out of molehills, I have found nothing as garish as you suggest. | |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 22:03 - May 16 with 3989 views | WeWereZombies |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 17:34 - May 15 by Throbbe |
Quite. Especially when Woofstock is the obvious choice.
*sits back and awaits job offers from the TWTD marketing/advertising community* |
Sounds like an ideal opportunity for Bow Wow Wow to reform... | |
| |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 17:17 - May 26 with 3911 views | trueblue1970 |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 10:50 - May 15 by No9 |
You would be surprised at how much people from the F inancial Servce companies in London are preparred to pay to come to East Anglia to shoot the pheasants & partriges that are bred by gamekeepers purely & simply to be shot by them.
Last time I heard the fee was £500 to a £1000 for a 4 bird bag
Not nice & the birds are not pleasant to eat |
Fake news !
Not looking for an argument just putting my view across which by reading this is very much different to most of you, to start I won’t be calling anyone names or disrespecting other posters views unlike a lot of posters on here
Management of the countryside has been taking places for years, the trapping of stoats,weasels,rats & mink (mink following the release by people who thought they were doing right but in fact released hell into the countryside). We have been shooting pigeons,jays,magpies & rooks.
All of these are predators and take eggs young chicks with the exception of pigeons they are controlled to save crops.
None of the above are on endangered lists they are all flourishing what’s going to happen now Mr Packham has interfered with years of management, all those birds that are endangered birds like the curlew will have no chance of rearing young.
The view that shooting is a rich mans sport is distorted yes there is a lot of money in the big shoots but that’s not all shooting, there will be a lot of jobs lost within the industry and the other businesses that may not be directly connected to shooting
I could go on but I will stop there |  | | |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 22:55 - May 26 with 3866 views | WeWereZombies |
| Real big men with guns yet again act like melts on 17:17 - May 26 by trueblue1970 |
Fake news !
Not looking for an argument just putting my view across which by reading this is very much different to most of you, to start I won’t be calling anyone names or disrespecting other posters views unlike a lot of posters on here
Management of the countryside has been taking places for years, the trapping of stoats,weasels,rats & mink (mink following the release by people who thought they were doing right but in fact released hell into the countryside). We have been shooting pigeons,jays,magpies & rooks.
All of these are predators and take eggs young chicks with the exception of pigeons they are controlled to save crops.
None of the above are on endangered lists they are all flourishing what’s going to happen now Mr Packham has interfered with years of management, all those birds that are endangered birds like the curlew will have no chance of rearing young.
The view that shooting is a rich mans sport is distorted yes there is a lot of money in the big shoots but that’s not all shooting, there will be a lot of jobs lost within the industry and the other businesses that may not be directly connected to shooting
I could go on but I will stop there |
I used to volunteer in a wood and we were next to another wood where shooting was allowed. The spread of feed for game birds was spread over the ground so sloppily that this wood became infested with rats. I think that is where you will find your biggest countryside (and town) pest. | |
| |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
