First Flight

It was a first outing in more ways than one for Mike Swan, who took his two sons duck flighting near his home

In my younger years, being out at dawn on 1 September was as important to me as the Glorious Twelfth to the avid grouse shooter. Dawn flight in a favourite muddy creek in south-west Wales was an annual ritual that had to be observed. My passion for the foreshore and “proper” wild fowling remains as strong as ever, but I was never averse to an inland flight at truly wild ducks and the need to be out on the “First” is not quite so strong.

This season’s first flight ended up being scheduled for the evening of Monday, 4 September, on a pond near home. It was a suitably overcast evening, if rather warm, with a modest breeze from the south-west. Not perfect conditions, but far from awful. It was special for me, because it would be my elder son Stuart’s first chance of a shot for real. At 14, Stuart had enjoyed one of BASC’s excellent Young Shots days, as well as several shooting lessons from a professional coach, so it was time to move on to the next adventure.

The build-up

Seeing the first few flights of mallard on the move in late July reminded me that it was time to start feeding the ponds. While the home pond rarely has a duck before the end of September, Sleep brook has always been good for the early season so I was a bit miffed when I discovered that it was choked with floating pondweed (Potamogeton natans).

Open water is important to attract passing birds but at least the covering of weed meant that I could scatter barley all over without having to worry that it would sink to the bottom in deep water.