Duck flighting

 

Mallard, and most other species of dabbling duck which find their way into wildfowlers' bags, fly to their feeding places at dusk and return to their resting places at dawn, often covering considerable distances between the two. Quite frequently where food is plentiful duck will return to their daytime resting places after a dusk feed, digest their meal during the night, then flight out for another feed before dawn, to return to the roost site again just after dawn. An evening flight intercepts duck on their way to feeding sites, and a morning flight those on their way to the roost site.

The British Isles are studded with small areas of water (half an acre or less) which provide, or can provide, good feeding places. The evening flight is, therefore, the one with which most shooting people will be concerned. Suitable resting areas usually consist of much larger expanses of water-lakes, estuaries, reservoirs and even the open sea - and are not so commonly found on the private shoot. A small secluded pond, however, will sometimes become a resting place. Even with generous feeding, it can then be difficult to make the ducks change their timetable and flight in at night!

The location of a flight pond is far more important than its size and excellent bags have been made on quite small flashes of water.

When excavating a flight pond the topsoil should be placed at the bottom of the excavated area to provide a source of nutrients for the fauna and flora. Good soil will also aid the establishment of marginal plants.

It is often possible to make a flight pond which will also be used as a breeding area. This means that suitable nesting cover, food and shelter for the young will have to be provided. However, we would recommend that such a pool or stretch of water be shot only lightly and less towards the end of the season. After that disturbances should be kept to the minimum, although feeding should continue for a few weeks.

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