Wood Pigeons buck the trend, in pigeon paradise.

Part of wood pigeon flock on the wing.

As a cold northerly wind whipped across the field I peered through my binoculars, trying desperately to count the number of wood pigeons which had just taken to the wing. Too many to accurately count ! My best estimate was around 350 – 400 individual birds in the sky.

The best spot for wood pigeons this winter?

Standing on the roadside verge of Badsell Road I was looking across a field of brassica fodder, which seemed to be mainly a commercial Kale variety of some sort. Planted in the early summer, the leafy plants were a great attraction for the town’s wood pigeon population, which like in most of England has soared over the last decade or so.

A windswept paradise.

I mentioned in my garden bird watch post on 31^st January that wood pigeons are quite common in both urban gardens and the countryside. 

From the garden.

Unlike many farming practices, which have caused a dramatic drop in farmland birds, the switch to oil seed rape, brassica forage crops and winter wheat has helped the wood pigeons to find readily available food and so survive the winter. Regular surveys by the British Trust for Ornithology have shown that wood pigeon numbers in the UK have risen by 79% since the late 1970s. Indeed garden surveys show that as well as being seen in the countryside, they are now encountered in our gardens more often than ‘common’ birds such as blue tits and robins.

Anyway, back to the brassica field and the freezing wind….plus the trucks speeding past me ! Camera out, I attempted to get a few shots, but it was difficult, for the birds were quite some distance away. The wood pigeons were now spread out, some in the trees along the overgrown hedgerow and many hunkered down in the field of kale, steadily stripping the plants of their leaves. In winter, brassica leaves are a great attraction for wood pigeons, particularly in late winter when other available food has dwindled and is difficult to find. 

Wood pigeons in the field and hedgerow.

I sat watching the birds for some time before they took to the air again. Wondering why they had stopped feeding, I glanced across and saw a man with a gun & portable hide, making his way down the edge of the field.

Wood pigeon numbers are such that they are now a serious agricultural pest and farmers freely allow hunters to shoot them on their land. For the last few years this particular field has contained a mixed variety of brassica plants and for a few weeks in early springtime the farmer has a flock of sheep in the field to fatten them up, by foraging on both the brassica leaves and roots. As well as a food crop for sheep (& cows) most farmers also receive an EU farm payment to plant brassica forage crops, for brassicas provide much needed food (& shelter) for many smaller farmland birds in the winter, Birds, such as finches, buntings & thrushes, doing less well in the countryside than overfed wood pigeons !

Close up on the kale.

Marrow stem kale flowers, left over from last year.

Marrow stem kale root.

Black mustard flowers. 

Again left over from a previous years planting.

I left the hunter to his solitary pursuit of shooting one, or one hundred, pigeons for the pot and as I headed for home I heard the shots ringing out across the field.

Up to now, when writing posts for this blog, I have focused upon how the planned  increase in housing in Paddock Wood will affect different wildlife species. But as you can see, in the case of the wood pigeon, it is a change in the management of the farmland, surrounding the town, which has resulted in wood pigeon population of Paddock Wood bucking the trend of other bird species and rising in numbers, over the last decade or so.

Whether its housing, or agricultural practices, the number and variety of wildlife we are likely to encounter, either in the town or the countryside, often depends upon the use we make of the land under our stewardship. 

If land use is driven solely on a ‘profit per hectare’ basis then little space will be left for wildlife, but if you value seeing flowers, birds, butterflies and bees, then just maybe you will find space for nature to prosper.