• You need to be a registered member of Barbel Fishing World to post on these forums. Some of the forums are hidden from non-members. Please refer to the instructions on the ‘Register’ page for details of how to join the new incarnation of BFW...

British Wildlife

I

Ian Wetton

Senior Member
Fished the Dove on Wednesday in a gale and blanked.

However mid morning a white bird glided over the middle of river, a Little Egret, it seemed to be struggling in the wind and just as it set itself to land a Peregrine Falcon appeared and after a short aerial tussle chased the Egret down river !

What a sight, two of Britain's rarest birds just 20 yards away.

To catch a fish is just a bonus !!
 
Ian Wetton said:
Fished the Dove on Wednesday in a gale and blanked.

However mid morning a white bird glided over the middle of river, a Little Egret, it seemed to be struggling in the wind and just as it set itself to land a Peregrine Falcon appeared and after a short aerial tussle chased the Egret down river !

What a sight, two of Britain's rarest birds just 20 yards away.

To catch a fish is just a bonus !!
Click to expand...

Some site Ian, although I am no 'twitcher ' or even a serious bird watcher I can claim to have seen even rarer...a Cattle Egret and a Hoopoe (sp). The Egret was actually in a field of longhorn cattle, and the extravagent Hoopoe was hopping across the road in Cheltenham.
 
The joys of fishing, just think if you were'nt fishing you would'nt have seen any of these, and you would'nt have had the chance to catch a fish:D
 
Ian Wetton said:
Fished the Dove on Wednesday in a gale and blanked.

However mid morning a white bird glided over the middle of river, a Little Egret, it seemed to be struggling in the wind and just as it set itself to land a Peregrine Falcon appeared and after a short aerial tussle chased the Egret down river !

What a sight, two of Britain's rarest birds just 20 yards away.
Click to expand...

Egrets are really common down here. I've seen flocks of over 30 feeding in the fields surrounding the Royalty after heavy rain.
 
The Chairman on Sunday, presently in The Sponsored Being Bar of The Well-Bought And Fatally Compromised Angler, in the company of a Lady Guide


Well, I think all this so-called worthy wildlife freeloading off us and our waters is nothing short of disgraceful, and will be sounding off about it in the puny weeklies that pay me to spout tosh in a column every few days ("Anything will do, Bertram - just fill the space and get it in on time ... feel free to sell something to the punters if we can get the linked advertizing ... or just wind them up and get them seething about something if we can't...").

Bitterns, eh? Nothing but glorified fish-thieving herons. Hoopoes? Stealing worms from the Castle Lawns by skewering fine Traditional English bait with their long, foreign, freeloading beaks...

Yes, I'm warming to the subject already.

Another drink, my dear?


As ever,

B.B.
 
Fav wildlife encounters this season have included a Mayfly hatch on the Upper Severn, where Swifts were flying low over the river to catch them, and at times just a few yards from my rod tip :)

Also on the River Vyrnwy a few weeks back I watched a Stoat explore the opposite bank before swimming across the river and exiting just a few feet from me. It checked me out with a classic Meerkat pose before disappearing into the undergrowth - awesome!

Notable birds seen/heard along the Severn/Vyrnwy this season have included stunning Male Redstarts (passage birds in late July), a Hobby harassing the local Hirundine flock and a singing Quail which is quite a rare sound, although it has been a good year for them from what I've read.

Definitely believe in the saying 'there's more to fishing than catching fish'

Regards,

Neil

PS - *I just discovered the 'ignore' feature and as a result I no longer need to read this 'The chairman on Shrove Tuesday' rubbish *- made up!
 
Last edited:
How does a nice thread like this turn in to a bitter and twisted slanging match that we now have. Not that it is unusual these days.
 
Hi men,

We was at the upper Teme Saturday , and herd a bird sound like two stones being banged together . Not a woodpecker , more of a clacking noise , Nuthatch ?.


Hatter
 
I do hope that that your "bitterness" is not being ascribed to me, Richard. I attracted chippy, serially sneering or sniping sorts virtually from the very first day I got myself an internet connection a decade ago and began posting as Paul Boote perfectly nicely and very helpfully on Angling forums, even being attacked by some desperados for not playing the game and using my real name, so, in their view, deserving all I got! Such is score-settling modern Angling, what a very great pity.
 
Websites like that and indeed cds with birdsong on only enhance my enjoyment of the riverbank. I used to be quite ignorant of what was happening around me when I was out fishing, thankfully in the process of learning the various calls and songs, undoing that ignorance, I've discovered even more what makes our riverbanks wonderful places to be.
 
Paul Boote said:
I do hope that that your "bitterness" is not being ascribed to me, Richard. I attracted chippy, serially sneering or sniping sorts virtually from the very first day I got myself an internet connection a decade ago and began posting as Paul Boote perfectly nicely and very helpfully on Angling forums, even being attacked by some desperados for not playing the game and using my real name, so, in their view, deserving all I got! Such is score-settling modern Angling, what a very great pity.
Click to expand...

I have to agree, I too have a rough ride at times, and to console myself I just know that they are all wrong and I was the only one with the voice of reason.

Will those masses of hate filled sniping little upstarts ever learn:mad:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top