This year has been exceptional for growth in my part of the world. A cold dry spring was replaced by steady rain through May. It’s led to a thick crop of barley.
In places, the growth and the rain have been too much. Overnight deluges have flattened the spring-drilled crop almost entirely. They’ve smashed flattened patches into the autumn-sown fields. These puddles of laid barley are proving irresistible for Columba palumbus — the rapaciously hungry woodpigeon.
Bird-scarers of all sorts are no deterrent for a determined woodie on a ‘flightpond’ of flattened barley. Like teal on a great evening flight, they drop in from all angles and I’ve recently enjoyed one such afternoon.
Rise and fall
I’d been watching numbers rise and fall over the preceding 10 days. Upwards of 50 birds would descend to feed in just a few minutes, arriving as singletons and pairs then rising as a flock when startled. They’d head off to other grazing areas and return in dribs and drabs to repeat the cycle.
Pigeons seem to appreciate barley as much as I do. When it’s dry and windy, a breeze appears to dance across a swaying field of ripening barley like sunlight on dappled water. A gust will send iridescent shimmers in kaleidoscopic waves across undulating rolls, troughs and crests.
Barley takes on a life force all of its own in early summer. There are many illustrations of the power it holds in the imagination. It has been grown in this country for more than 3,000 years and is thought by some to be the oldest cultivated crop.
Bu hikaye Shooting Times & Country dergisinin July 28, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Shooting Times & Country dergisinin July 28, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
United we stand
Following United Utilities' decision to end grouse shooting on its land, Lindsay Waddell asks what will happen if we ignore our vital moors
Serious matters
An old gamebook prompts a contemplation on punt-gunning
They're not always as easy as they seem
While coneys of the furry variety don't pose a problem for Blue Zulu, he's left frustrated once again by bolting bunnies of the clay sort
Debutant gundogs
There's lots to think about when it comes to making the decision about when to introduce your dog to shooting
When the going gets rough
Al Gabriel returns to the West London Shooting School to brush up on his rough shooting technique
The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition
In this excerpt from the 60th anniversary edition of the BDS's Field Guide To British Deer, Charles Smith-Jones considers the noise they make
A step too far?
Simon Garnham wonders whether a new dog, a new gun and two different fields in need of protection might have been asking too much for one afternoon's work
Two bucks before breakfast
A journey from old South London to rural Hertfordshire to stalk muntjac suggests that the two aren't as far detached as they might seem
Stalking Diary
Stalkers can be a sentimental bunch, and they often carry a huge attachment to their hill
Gamekeeper
Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside