Triumph In Adversity

When gales and rain flatten Andy’s wheat it is tough to see a bright side, but a memorable day on the pigeons helps ease the pain

- Andy Crow

"It’s been 12 years since I’ve had a field of wheat looking like this,” explains Andy Crow as he shows us round 80 acres of flattened crop. “Modern varieties tend to be shorter and we work with an agronomist to ensure we apply growth regulator at the right time to try to avoid this happening. But nature isn’t always very scientific and when we had a combination of torrential rain and 60-70mph gusts of wind, it just mullered it!”

Pigeons are opportunists and they exploit every advantage to ensure that they feed well. Whether that is a patchy bit of field caused by bad drainage or dry weather, or an entire area of flattened crop, they will home in on it. This field is total heaven. Large areas are accessible to them and the heads of wheat are well advanced. “They just love ‘milky’ wheat: it is full of goodness and much easier for them to digest than when it dries up. So between now and harvest, they will be on this almost non-stop.”

Andy knew he’d have to get out on duty with the gun, but a busy schedule meant he was forced to wait a little while. But he still ensured he kept a close eye on the comings and goings, and soon enough the numbers were building up. Of course, as with all forays after wild birds, luck also plays its part.

“There were never more than a couple of hundred birds on the field, but the morning we were due to shoot it Gary [Andy’s cousin] called me just as I arrived and there must have been a thousand birds on the place. I knew then that we’d be having a really good day.”