Pigeon scarer

[Mike4]

Perhaps , but the local ginger cat is too bloody lazy. It's all he can do to shift his fat ar$e from one garden to another, slowly.
Hoping it was one of our many red kites, but they're pretty timid - I've seen one 'mobbed' and chased off by a solitary seagull

Kites are scavengers of dead meat rather than hunters, whereas buzzards are hunters preferring live prey AIUI. This is why they co-exist peacefully in the same bits of sky - not competing for food.

I hope the burgeoning population of sparrowhawks around here develop a taste for pigeon as mentioned up-thread. The pigeons around here are about the same size and weight as the new HMS Elizabeth and one pigeon that likes to crash about on the TV aerial on my chimbley has actually bent it, so it now rattles against the FM aerial. Should I write a letter to someone about this?

[AleisterCrowley]

My local pigeons like CLATTERING in trees and bushes
Not sure if they are mating or fighting

[bungeejumper]

My local pigeons like CLATTERING in trees and bushes
Not sure if they are mating or fighting

Agreed, it's sometimes hard to tell the difference. The females spend quite a lot of time battling off their over-ardent mates, and then just when I think they've called off the conjugation they say "oh all right then", and suddenly they're at it again, creating another generation of pests. And on my roof, too. Something should be done about it.

In fairness, they do put on quite a good display of affection, what with all that cooing and nuzzling that they do. Mr Wikipedia says that pigeons (oh all right, doves) have been associated with love, sexuality and suchlike since the third millennium BC, and I'm not surprised. But they also have some odd connections with war. Which gets me thinking that a well-timed stone might not kill just two birds, but hopefully a nestful of sprogs, and their sprogs as well. How'd that be for a result?

BJ

[88V8]

In our previous house there were some hazels immediately outside the bathroom window at the front of the house, and every year a pair returned to make an unfeasible nest of a few sticks perched on a fork, where they managed always to rear one or two pigeolets.
I used to shoot pigeon in the back garden, reduce them to crown and in the pot they went. But luckily never the two that nested in the front.

Since moving here a kind neighbour brings us pheasant, duck, partridge, so I have not bothered with the pigeons, although I have to say it was a jolly sight quicker to prepare a brace of pigeon than it is to pluck and draw a pheasant.

I still have the airgun, now it is employed only against squirrel which I really cannot be bothered to skin, although we have eaten them in the past.

V8

[Mike4]

I still have the airgun, now it is employed only against squirrel which I really cannot be bothered to skin, although we have eaten them in the past.

A close friend of mine from a traveller background at a party some years ago, after a LOT of alcohol, mushrooms etc had been chatting garrulously about her memories of eating squirrel as part of her regular diet as a child. Someone asked what it tasted like and after thinking about it carefully, she collapsed the whole room into tears of laughter with her reply: "Well, I suppose it tastes a bit like hedgehog".

[sg31]

In our previous house there were some hazels immediately outside the bathroom window at the front of the house, and every year a pair returned to make an unfeasible nest of a few sticks perched on a fork, where they managed always to rear one or two pigeolets.
I used to shoot pigeon in the back garden, reduce them to crown and in the pot they went. But luckily never the two that nested in the front.

Since moving here a kind neighbour brings us pheasant, duck, partridge, so I have not bothered with the pigeons, although I have to say it was a jolly sight quicker to prepare a brace of pigeon than it is to pluck and draw a pheasant.

I still have the airgun, now it is employed only against squirrel which I really cannot be bothered to skin, although we have eaten them in the past.

V8

The landlord of my local is a chef and regularly shoots pheasants. He insists the easy way to prepare a pheasant is to stand with one wing under each boot and then pull firmly upwards on the legs. Apparently that gets rid of the feathers and presumably the skin and wings. I know him well so I have challenged him to prove it.

My own method has alwayd been just to skin the bird which isn't too difficult with a sharp knife. At least you don't end up with feathers everywhere. You don't get the fat under the skin to baste the bird while cooking but streaky bacon is a good substitute. I must say it's a long while since I prepared a pheasant. Many years ago when I used to live in Lincolnshire the big shooting estates used to almost give surplus birds away. These days I'd have to buy from the butchers which is very expensive. I'm working on a local gamekeeper to get a cheap supply.

[Mike4]

The landlord of my local is a chef and regularly shoots pheasants. He insists the easy way to prepare a pheasant is to stand with one wing under each boot and then pull firmly upwards on the legs. Apparently that gets rid of the feathers and presumably the skin and wings. I know him well so I have challenged him to prove it.

My own method has alwayd been just to skin the bird which isn't too difficult with a sharp knife. At least you don't end up with feathers everywhere. You don't get the fat under the skin to baste the bird while cooking but streaky bacon is a good substitute. I must say it's a long while since I prepared a pheasant. Many years ago when I used to live in Lincolnshire the big shooting estates used to almost give surplus birds away. These days I'd have to buy from the butchers which is very expensive. I'm working on a local gamekeeper to get a cheap supply.

Ah now this is something I have a bit of experience with. Not much, but a bit. A few years ago I investigated how to prepare a pheasant and practised it on some of the many roadkill pheasants around here. There are a number of youtube videos showing how including the ultra-fast feet-on-the-wings method you describe which IIRC, yields only the breast meat and wastes the rest of the bird.

Point is though, my sister said it's simply not worth the effort and risk of picking up and selecting freshly roadkilled pheasants as her local game butcher sells legitimate pheasants really cheaply, something like £2.50 each!

[bungeejumper]

There are a number of youtube videos showing how including the ultra-fast feet-on-the-wings method you describe which IIRC, yields only the breast meat and wastes the rest of the bird.

Point is though, my sister said it's simply not worth the effort and risk of picking up and selecting freshly roadkilled pheasants as her local game butcher sells legitimate pheasants really cheaply, something like £2.50 each!

+1 in both points. There's meat on the other parts of the bird besides its breast, but it takes such a lot of work. Whereas the YouTube method takes just seconds. (Not for the squeamish. From memory, you turn the bird inside out with a sharp jab from your knee, and the bit you want just pops out?)

Nobody around these parts would pay £2.50 for a pheasant. The going price is £2.50 for a brace. What else is there to do with the spoils of your shooting day when you've got 100 large dead birds that nobody wants the bother of preparing?

A thrifty neighbour had a try at preparing a pheasant casserole. He seriously underestimated the work and gave up on the third day....

BJ

[sg31]

There are a number of youtube videos showing how including the ultra-fast feet-on-the-wings method you describe which IIRC, yields only the breast meat and wastes the rest of the bird.

Point is though, my sister said it's simply not worth the effort and risk of picking up and selecting freshly roadkilled pheasants as her local game butcher sells legitimate pheasants really cheaply, something like £2.50 each!

+1 in both points. There's meat on the other parts of the bird besides its breast, but it takes such a lot of work. Whereas the YouTube method takes just seconds. (Not for the squeamish. From memory, you turn the bird inside out with a sharp jab from your knee, and the bit you want just pops out?)

Nobody around these parts would pay £2.50 for a pheasant. The going price is £2.50 for a brace. What else is there to do with the spoils of your shooting day when you've got 100 large dead birds that nobody wants the bother of preparing?

A thrifty neighbour had a try at preparing a pheasant casserole. He seriously underestimated the work and gave up on the third day....

BJ

£2.50 a brace and I'd be filling the freezer.

[88V8]

+1 in both points. There's meat on the other parts of the bird besides its breast, but it takes such a lot of work.

I do pluck them. But the neighbour who fetches them to us skins them and discards the wings and I'm sure it takes a fraction of the time. I even save the neck and ferret around for the heart & liver. Mind you, they tend to be big birds with four decent servings.

Duck are the worst. Sooooo many feathers. And not that much meat. Bit of a swizzle.

V8

[UncleEbenezer]

... but if I ever aspire to become one, I now have a resource to learn the trade ...

[redsturgeon]

I was staggered to learn that about 35 million pheasant are reared to be shot each year in the UK of which about 20 million avoid that fate.

Contrast this with the most common wild birds:

Wren: 11 million pairs
Robin: 7.35 million pairs
House sparrow: 5.3 million pairs
Woodpigeon: 5.15 million pairs
Chaffinch and blackbird: 5.05 millions pairs (each)

John

[scotia]

I was staggered to learn that about 35 million pheasant are reared to be shot each year in the UK of which about 20 million avoid that fate.

Contrast this with the most common wild birds:

Wren: 11 million pairs
Robin: 7.35 million pairs
House sparrow: 5.3 million pairs
Woodpigeon: 5.15 million pairs
Chaffinch and blackbird: 5.05 millions pairs (each)

John

I was going to reply that you have ignored the most common bird - starlings
Then I checked with the RSPB - and got UK breeding = 1.8 million
But in my garden they arrive in flocks whenever food is around, and easily out-number all others
And when the berries on the rowan reach an attractive orange colour, they descend in impressively large numbers and strip the berries from the tree.
And if you go to the correct place in the evening you can see huge murmurations.
So why is the number only 1.8 million?

[bungeejumper]

I was going to reply that you have ignored the most common bird - starlings
Then I checked with the RSPB - and got UK breeding = 1.8 million
But in my garden they arrive in flocks whenever food is around, and easily out-number all others
And when the berries on the rowan reach an attractive orange colour, they descend in impressively large numbers and strip the berries from the tree.
And if you go to the correct place in the evening you can see huge murmurations.
So why is the number only 1.8 million?

I'm surprised it's quite that low, but I did know that they were on the endangered list. You've probably seen this RSPB web page, but it notes that only 15% of hatchlings survive their first year. https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildl ... servation/

Beyond that, they say they don't know the reason. Habitat/feeding patterns/farmers grubbing up hedgerows, I imagine? All I can say is that it I'd ever got my hands on the little bastards who used to stomp around inside my box eaves at four in the morning, or leave their acidic crap all over my motorbike, there'd have been a few less by now. Sorry God, I tried but but I never did manage to love starlings.

BJ