Saturday 1 October 2011

October the 1st.................................................... let the slaughter begin

It's been the hottest October day on record... temperatures are in the 80's.
October the first is the start of the shooting season.
People shoot birds in Cheshire... they are known as game and are bred for the purpose.
 Pheasants and Partridges are raised for the enjoyment of sport.
I am fortunate to see these beautiful birds almost every day as I travel to and from work.
Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa)
Game shooting makes a lot of money for the landowners and provides something different for the table of those that wish to pay to blow wonderful birds out of the sky.
I made a post a few weeks ago about a little Pheasant.
I named himTarget and gave him the chance to tell his own story.
I still see him on my journey to and from work... he has a small territory in a field close to a garden centre and a couple of weeks ago I stopped to capture a clip of him courting a lady friend.
He has been joined on his patch by some partridges who were tucking into some left over potatoes.



Target is a young bird but his tail is so short the girls aren't very impressed.

I was on a busy road with lot's of traffic noise and used YouTube to add audio.
(I apologise for the ads Google have inserted I am trying to get it removed)

The shooting season continues until February.
I think if Target stays were he is he will survive the winter.
I have seen him quite a few times on my commute and after watching him almost being run over filming my earlier post hope he has a charmed life. 
A link to that post is here:
 http://rambleswithacamera.blogspot.com/2011/08/life-of-pheasant-in-his-own-words.html

Shooting game has been going on for centuries as these old images depict.


The shoots breed the birds... they wouldn't be here without proper land management.
Some of my favourite birds just wouldn't be seen without it.
I admit I do sit on the fence about blood sports.

I have had a lovely holiday this week... the weather has been fantastic.
I am just putting together a post of todays walk.... I will share it tomorrow.

13 comments:

ADRIAN said...

A brilliant shot of the Partridge. A wonderful bird.

Horst in Edmonton said...

Wow, that Red legged Partridge is a beautiful bird. I don't see Pheasant or Partridge here to often but they are around. We have Hungarian Partridge around here.

Míriam Luiza said...

As fotos são lindas! É uma pena que ainda exista esporte como esse: matar aves. Será que as aves são consumidas? Ou descartadas? Obrigada pela visita e pelas belas palavras em meu blog. Te seguindo também.

TexWisGirl said...

all the game birds are really beautiful. i hope target and his pals stay close to that patch of land, if they know what's good for them. :)

Bob Bushell said...

I am against the idea "game sports", who has the right to kill anything.

joo said...

Your photos are beautiful, but I must say that I hate idea of hunting! Sorry

Nancy said...

If there wasn't hunting, the birds would likely die of disease or starvation. It's a necessary thing -- so no need to explain to me. :) Lovely photos and I like the old vintage hunting images as well.

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

Your video continues to motivate me with doing so myself. Nice post.

Magia da Inês said...

º° ✿
♥ °
Amigo,
Não gosto de caçadas...
é matar por prazer.
Bom fim de semana!
Beijinhos.
Brasilº° ✿
✿♥ °

..(░)(░)
(░)(♥)(░)
..(░)(░)

Arija said...

Odd, isn't it, the whole idea of blood "sport'. We take animals to terror houses of slaughter and happily munch them up from our summer BBQ's, or a la carte, yet are squeamish when we see them hunted down in cold blood. Is it worse to breed chickens for slaughter or raise wild birds to be shot? Depending on the condition of the chickens, factory bred against free range, I suppose it does not make a lot of difference. At least those beautiful birds being raised for shooters enjoy a short life in the wild at least. The whole thing makes one want to be a vegetarian but then, what if the cabbage scrams as you reach out with a knife to cut it down?

DawnTreader said...

Don't think I've ever seen a partridge. However I've just been watching the whole old TV series Upstairs Downstairs on DVD and it was frequently on the menu! ;)

Unknown said...

I am so against hunting! Gorgeous shot on top.

Pantherka said...

Beautiful shot and beautiful bird.