8th December - Gale Force Pigeons

Despite the phenomenal number of pigeons in the area, they have presented few opportunities for good shooting. C and I have had the odd one here and there, but on the whole the vast flocks are feeding away from here and though they often roost in woods to which we have access, one shot is enough to scatter hundreds of birds which don't return. The high winds which are rolling over buses and tearing off library roofs in Scotland are not quite so ferocious down here but still impressively powerful. We should have been out at lunchtime taking advantage of the adverse conditions levelling the odds in our favour but putting together dinner kept me in till three and by the time we arrived at Release Pen Wood oak bows were already dripping with grey birds. They usually favour the taller more open trees of Bowling Alley Wood but with the chestnut and birches bending and thrashing violently above us it was easy to understand why they had chosen the lower wood, sheltered by the steep hill and thick coppice. Seemingly reluctant to leave at first, they then exploded from the branches wave after wave after wave, until it seemed impossible that so many creatures should have been packed into so few trees.

Before many moments the first few Woody's were circling back and one, alighting near C fell victim to his first shot. After a quick walk to Bowling Alley Wood and finding it completely devoid of activity, I walked back to Release Pen Wood and took up a position below to mature oaks surrounded by slender chestnut. Soon the action began in earnest and it was pigeon shooting to be remembered, not because the session ended with a big bag but because the birds were numerous, the shooting hard and the conditions exhilarating. Movement was everywhere the writhing canopy, the churning grey cloud flecked with scudding swirls of white, leaves blowing horizontally and amongst it all the winged outlines of pigeons threading their way through the invisible currents. There was an almost constant stream of them, mostly in small groups of two or three which had lightly been separated from their flocks by the blasting wind but occasionally in vast groups which made the heart beat fast. I have lost faith in my trusty side-by-side (naturally a bad workman blames his tools) and today took out my old over and under with which many years ago I was a dab hand. It felt too long and cumbersome to begin with, but once I'd reacquainted myself with the pistol grip and single trigger I made a couple of good shots swinging through for fast birds which screamed across the wind. As I said there was no big bag.  We ended with six pigeons and one crow between us, at the expense of at least 30 cartridges. Bad odds by anyone's reckoning but we weren't disappointed.

Dinner

Pheasant and spinach curry with rice. The spinach, or perpetual beet as it really is, has been fantastic all through the autumn and into winter. Until we have hard frost it will continue to push up fresh growth, providing welcome greens which aren't of the cabbage family..