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Anyone find the pheasant numbers down

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    #122
    blackpearl
    Registered Users Posts: 668 ✭✭✭blackpearl


    we nearly always get ours first week in june poults ,we have to wait and see this year with the bird flu game farms getting their day olds from france,if theirs a outbreak then their could be a ban on imports fingers crossed.


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    #123
    Capercaillie
    Registered Users Posts: 1,732 ✭✭✭Capercaillie


    blackpearl wrote: »
    i am not going to tell you how many foxes are killed on our club lands, put it this way come breeding season for pheasants they are as rare as hens teeth,mags and greys the same plenty of cover woods bogs and thank god good ditches and now game crop everywhere and plenty of buzzards, wild pheasants never as scarce so whats doing the damage?.
    blackpearl wrote: »
    we nearly always get ours first week in june poults ,we have to wait and see this year with the bird flu game farms getting their day olds from france,if theirs a outbreak then their could be a ban on imports fingers crossed.

    Are the buzzards affecting the feral pheasants or the released birds?


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    #124
    blackpearl
    Registered Users Posts: 668 ✭✭✭blackpearl


    We e have to replace the wild birds killed by buzzards some way,buy the way you still did not answer my question i put to you, i dont care what other peoples findings amount to so would you answer the question please.


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    #125
    dodderangler
    Registered Users Posts: 9,204 ✭✭✭dodderangler


    blackpearl wrote: »
    We e have to replace the wild birds killed by buzzards some way,buy the way you still did not answer my question i put to you, i dont care what other peoples findings amount to so would you answer the question please.

    Sorry but a wild pheasant is a lot harder for a buzzard to get near and even then with their small feet ( a hen pheasant has bigger feet than a buzzard) it'd struggle to hold it. A pen reared pheasant is easy prey but even then buzzards will think twice before risking the attack or wasting energy. They won't catch a pheasant on full flight. Hen or cock it won't happen.


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    #126
    Cass
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 28,562 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cass


    Rights folks.

    The thread was back on track and has now been takin off it again.

    So, back on track. Get back to the topic of pheasants and away from Buzzards. If there is one more post about buzzards the thread will be shut down.
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    #127
    clawback07
    Registered Users Posts: 96 ✭✭clawback07


    Has anyone given any thought to the effect of disease on pheasant population ?There's plenty of talk about the bird flu that's come to the attention of the media , but what about other viruses , parasites etc that haven't been studied in depth . Particularly released birds which could come from release pens that have been used for years ,and have been dosed medically during captivity and then released into a fairly hostile world where flubenvet doesn't grow on trees !
    Then if they do croak it foxes , badgers etc dispose of the evidence thereby being another cause for their numbers dropping .


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    #128
    useurowname
    Registered Users Posts: 396 ✭✭useurowname


    Season is getting shorter for me every year. Didn't go out until the last week November, fired my last shot on the second week in January, seven week game season. The sport I love is receding, wild habitat just not there to sustain birds in any sort of number. Climate change undoubtedly affecting migrant birds, it's some 7 years since I saw a pochard. Pigeon are now my main quarry.


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    #129
    Crow Pigeon and Pheasant
    Registered Users Posts: 227 ✭✭Crow Pigeon and Pheasant


    Just curious as to do jackdaws and rooks eat pheasants eggs? We have a terrible amount of crows around!


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    #130
    dodderangler
    Registered Users Posts: 9,204 ✭✭✭dodderangler


    Crow Pigeon and Pheasant wrote: »
    Just curious as to do jackdaws and carrion crows eat pheasants eggs? We have a terrible amount of crows around!

    Crows more so than jackdaws. Magpies will aswell. Carrion crows and grey crows will take chicks too if unguarded.


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    #131
    Half-cocked
    Registered Users Posts: 4,319 ✭✭✭Half-cocked


    Don't forget that if you are relying on breeding wild pheasants for your shooting, a bad Spring will impact on numbers (as with all ground nesting species). It can take a population a few years to fully recover from one very wet and cold Spring.


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    #132
    Crow Pigeon and Pheasant
    Registered Users Posts: 227 ✭✭Crow Pigeon and Pheasant


    Shot 2 rooks and 2 jackdaws in a few minutes this morning! Terrible the amount of them around!


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    #133
    Capercaillie
    Registered Users Posts: 1,732 ✭✭✭Capercaillie


    Half-cocked wrote: »
    Don't forget that if you are relying on breeding wild pheasants for your shooting, a bad Spring will impact on numbers (as with all ground nesting species). It can take a population a few years to fully recover from one very wet and cold Spring.

    Red Grouse had very poor breeding success in Ballycroy this year.


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    #134
    Capercaillie
    Registered Users Posts: 1,732 ✭✭✭Capercaillie


    dodderangler wrote: »
    Crows more so than jackdaws. Magpies will aswell. Carrion crows and grey crows will take chicks too if unguarded.
    Not many Carrion crows in Ireland.


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    #135
    blackpearl
    Registered Users Posts: 668 ✭✭✭blackpearl


    Crow Pigeon and Pheasant wrote: »
    Shot 2 carrions and 2 jackdaws in a few minutes this morning! Terrible the amount of them around!
    are you in the north i think it is one of the only places in ireland that their are a few carrion crows,they are all over england scotland and wales not as many grey crows their, its greys that are mostly in ireland .


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    #136
    Crow Pigeon and Pheasant
    Registered Users Posts: 227 ✭✭Crow Pigeon and Pheasant


    My apologies I meant rooks! What a rooky mistake! No pun intended!

    No I'm in kildare


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    #137
    Base price
    Registered Users Posts: 11,280 ✭✭✭✭Base price


    It appears from reading responses to this thread that the various Mustelidae's present in our countryside are innocent crathurs :rolleyes:


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    #138
    Vizzy
    Registered Users Posts: 2,537 ✭✭✭Vizzy


    Base price wrote: »
    It appears from reading responses to this thread that the various Mustelidae's present in our countryside are innocent crathurs :rolleyes:

    All but one of them are protected mammals.
    However Vulpes Vulpes,Pica Pica and Corvus Tristis are not, and should be concentrated on, if one wishes to control vermin.:)


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    #139
    Birdnuts
    Registered Users Posts: 9,739 ✭✭✭Birdnuts


    Base price wrote: »
    It appears from reading responses to this thread that the various Mustelidae's present in our countryside are innocent crathurs :rolleyes:

    I'm mounting my own personal war on mink;)


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    #140
    Tikka391
    Registered Users Posts: 310 ✭✭Tikka391


    Any body notice an increase in Ravens.
    There has been a population explosion round are area.
    From seeing one or two a year to seeing 15/20 at a time.
    I don't know they would be with taking game birds and the like, but we now have them by the dozen or more.


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    #141
    blackpearl
    Registered Users Posts: 668 ✭✭✭blackpearl


    They are a big problem on grouse moors in scotland all the crow family can not be trusted.Some are protected,i think the raven and not sure about the jay.


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    #142
    Capercaillie
    Registered Users Posts: 1,732 ✭✭✭Capercaillie


    blackpearl wrote: »
    They are a big problem on grouse moors in scotland all the crow family can not be trusted.Some are protected,i think the raven and not sure about the jay.

    Chough???


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    #143
    blackpearl
    Registered Users Posts: 668 ✭✭✭blackpearl


    Capercaillie wrote: »
    Chough???
    They are in fact harmless their diet is insects and their larve the only one of the crow family that has a clean record.


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    #144
    dodderangler
    Registered Users Posts: 9,204 ✭✭✭dodderangler


    Tikka391 wrote: »
    Any body notice an increase in Ravens.
    There has been a population explosion round are area.
    From seeing one or two a year to seeing 15/20 at a time.
    I don't know they would be with taking game birds and the like, but we now have them by the dozen or more.

    Love seeing ravens about. Was gonna get one myself. Very smart birds. I also went from seeing the rare one to stumbling upon a dead sheep that had 7 on it then seeing them almost everyday when I'm out hunting. They're a lot more than a standard crow. They will also hunt. Rats and small bunnies are on the menu. They're pretty fast when they want to be. Seeing one go full stoop on a female buzzard in lugala


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    #145
    Half-cocked
    Registered Users Posts: 4,319 ✭✭✭Half-cocked


    Ravens are amazing birds, have a pair roost on our shoot. I watch them heading off into the hills at dawn and back again at dusk. You don't realize how big they are until you get close to a tame one. They are HUGE! I don't know how they impact on pheasants but they've always been here so probably not much.
    Seeing one go full stoop on a female buzzard in lugala

    I've seen them chase off birds of prey as well, possibly doing the pheasants a favour.


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    #146
    Tikka391
    Registered Users Posts: 310 ✭✭Tikka391


    We have a couple of big sheep farmers round our way, they hate to see them this time of year. We can sort the grays no bother but can't touch the big lads. They cause them a lot of worry.


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    #147
    clawback07
    Registered Users Posts: 96 ✭✭clawback07


    I thought ravens only eat carrion - never heard of them killing lambs .


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    #148
    blackpearl
    Registered Users Posts: 668 ✭✭✭blackpearl


    They are causeing problems in scotland killing lambs farmers are going mad over not been able to shoot them big flocks pecking young lambs to death a lot of farmers have moved them indoors,the pouplation has exploded in scotland they are the cleverest bird around they will take game birds, small mammals, frogs and feed on carrion and seeds and berries only see a odd won around our part of the country thank god.


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    #149
    Eddie B
    Registered Users Posts: 1,979 ✭✭✭Eddie B


    For me, it's all about habitat loss. Farming methods have changed the face of the countryside. When I was a young fella, there were pheasants everywhere. Everyone had little gardens sown, and there were orchards all over the place.

    Has anyone noticed how little pheasants there are in stubble fields? Pesticides must play a big part in the success rate of pheasant chic survival. I mean, the stuff is pure poison.

    Also, pest control wasn't a big thing years ago, compared to nowadays. There was loads of fox's, mags, grey crows back then, and we had ton's of pheasants.

    So, even though predation is certainly putting pressure on pheasant numbers, it's not the main reason for the decline imo.


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    #150
    Tommyaya4
    Registered Users Posts: 231 ✭✭Tommyaya4


    Eddie B wrote: »
    For me, it's all about habitat loss. Farming methods have changed the face of the countryside. When I was a young fella, there were pheasants everywhere. Everyone had little gardens sown, and there were orchards all over the place.

    Has anyone noticed how little pheasants there are in stubble fields? Pesticides must play a big part in the success rate of pheasant chic survival. I mean, the stuff is pure poison.

    Also, pest control wasn't a big thing years ago, compared to nowadays. There was loads of fox's, mags, grey crows back then, and we had ton's of pheasants.

    So, even though predation is certainly putting pressure on pheasant numbers, it's not the main reason for the decline imo.

    Completely agree the biggest problem pheasant face is habitat loss and pesticide use


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    #151
    blackpearl
    Registered Users Posts: 668 ✭✭✭blackpearl


    We still have 3quaters of our cover left bogs and scrubby coners woods and good ditches places where i hunted from i was 16 still much the same but wild pheasants are not their in numbers any more we only started putting out pheasants this last 7 years, the wild birds give us the best of hunting for years ,foxs were kept down and mags and grey crows but in other areas then dam all fox shooting going on but their was still plenty of wild pheasants something has changed in the last few years that killed of a lot of the wild birds.


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