Hi All,

We've started early work on the shoot already to open up some of the coverts and let some more light into them. some of the woods are very bare underfoot as they are permanently shaded.

I was wandering if anyone knew of a seed that could be broadcasted into the coverts to try and improve the ground cover and holding abilities of the woods for pheasant and partridges. I've put some Canary grass into one covert as an experiment to see how it goes.

The other alternative is to take bramble cuttings from else where and replant them into the newly opened coverets but it feels a lot more labour intensive!!

Thanks
FB

If you want a long term sustainable understory then your best bet might be to exclude the deer from a small area, let in the light and let natural regen do its thing. That way the best plants for the soil type will self-select.

If i can put my land agent hat on for a minute here, can i ask if you have a felling licence for these works?
If not you may accidentaly cost your landowner/farmer some serious cash!
Under the mid-term review of agriculture farms have to be kept in a good agricultural and environmental condition (GAEC). If not they risk losing there newly decoupled support payment, which varies but if you assumed 180/ha/year you would be about right.
One of the GAEC rules (GAEC16) is that you must not undertake forestry works without a felling licence. Now there are exceptions to this, and there is a 5m3 per quarter of timber felling exception, and you are allowed 2m3 of timber to sell.
But it is worth making sure that you dont need a felling licence otherwise you might have a very upset landowner!
If you want any more info on the above dont hesitate to contact me.
Apologies if it doesnt make sense!

FB,
Canary grass works well,Reed Canary Grass will last more years and will stand better (but will cost more). Sow in direction of driving of your birds, can cross sow at the ends to stop them running out. Be carefull of hand sowing at a high sowing rate as this might end up as a dense mass of covers that will cause dogs to peg birds on a shoot day, especially in wet weather. On the transportation of brambles, have to ask the question why they are not present? If its due to grazing pressure, transportation will be useless (has been tried with hundreds of cuttings!!), if its just because of shading then get the chainsaw out and make some holes in the canopy, following all felling regs of course!! Have also thickened up understorey, especialy at flushing points with laurel, but remember, non native and in years to come they will need trimming, but in certain situations are excellant and will establish well, can be coppiced at ground level then trimmed at waist level for great flushing cover.

NW

FB et al,

When it comes to pheasant and partridges, do you have any thoughts on the potential upcoming "bird-flu", and what kind of impact this might have on the raising and putting out (this probably has a more correct term) of birds? Not to mention handling by picker-uppers? I would think this might have been a discussion topic at the local pubs?

FB tell us what sort of covert ref. predominant tree species. Post a photo or two and the foresters and farmers can help.
If sheep or cattle have any access during winter esp.you'll never get any decent cover.
Light is the key and no grazing, then if its not too wet, and theres not matts of bluebells, and its not all thick mature conifer etc etc

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies. I was a bit slow coming back as I have been out of action for the week with the dreaded lurgie...

The main reason that the coverts are bare in places is due to the lack of light. They haven't been coppiced in 25+years so some are very bare indeed. The deer will browse a bit but being mostly grazing fallow we have, I wouldn't think they are a major problem in this instance.

Trans,
I'm back over there on Saturday so I'll take some photos and show the type of thing we're doing. Most of what is coming out is rotten ash and some stunted scrub and a lot of stuff that has fallen and been left over the years.

The Aim is to lay some of the blackthorn that is around the edges to provide some cover and a wind break and sow some flushing cover into the new sunnier middle. None of these coverts a particularly big but could hold a couple of dozen birds each if they were in shape.

Eric

as far as the bird Flu thing is concerned, we ar planning to go ahead as normal. I spoke to our game farmer about the poults and he said that the exclusion zones in case of outbreak are about 3 miles so they are not as drastic as with foot and mouth. I'm sure it will all change once we get the birds in though, but one thing at a time.

regards,
FB

Pheasant and partridge (grouse) have different needs. Just cutting and allowing natural regrowth to take place will provide better habitat for the partridge. Small slashes of a few acres each are better than one large area.

For pheasant, you might want to try several plants, including clover, milo and foxtail.

Pheasants need holding cover as well as feed. They do better in an agricultural environment. While the partridge need forest that has experienced a burn or logging.

375 AI
I suspect that you are not from the UK. Here the birds have other requirements. In a nutshell pheasents prefer woodland edge with gound cover, while partridges prefer arable, especially stubble. Our grouse is confined to upland heather moorland.

sws My advice as a retired/reformed land agent is sod the red tape and break out the sthil!