A bit of a curve ball

An old curling pond near the coast ticks every box to make it suitable for flighting — apart from one vital component, as Jack Bell discovers

- Jack Bell

Small bodies of water can provide excellent wild sport throughout the winter months and in Dumfries and Galloway we consider ourselves lucky to have remarkably easy access to them. We have a small syndicate shoot on the Solway coast covering just over 1,000 acres split between open hill, good grazing and silage pasture. On this ground there are seven standing water bodies, ranging from an 18-acre man-made loch to small seasonal splashes that appear in tandem with the welcome arrival of the dark nights.

On the periphery of our permission, the bankside of a pond can just be seen from the public road through a self-seeded block of goat willow. Until recently I had never visited this area, as my attention had been focused on the more central areas of the shoot. One evening, as I drove home from a day topping up pheasant feeders, two mallard drakes flew in front of me and circled before dropping out of sight.

This piqued my interest and I pulled on to the verge to see what lay beyond the patch of willows.

As I cleared the fence a handful of mallard lifted, climbing and circling in the wind before flying out to the west. The pond was now visible but I never had time to fully assess it because another large group of mallard rose followed by dozens of teal. Seeing teal among the clumsy flight of mallard puts into perspective the sporting nature of this bird.

A shelduck was the last to lift and it landed in the nearby field then casually waddled off. I had not seen any wigeon among the duck but their unmistakable whistling call rang out over the area. After a few minutes the sky settled and only snipe were left to burst and jink from the rushes.