I decided that an early visit to Rishton Reservoir was in order this morning but as I arrived I was dismayed to see a guy and Alsatian dog on the far bank - well that's that then, or so I thought. Obviously there was little on the far bank but the guy was acting rather suspiciously and as I viewed the railway I couldn't help but notice Gosse decoys in the field - clearly he was what I thought - a shooter after the geese.
The few Canada Geese that there were, were sat on the Reservoir along with the family of Great Crested Grebes and - a drake Common Scoter! Unexpected but welcome.
Anyway, I was watching this when there was a shot and a Black-headed Gull fell out of the air. Now that's something they shouldn't be doing so I called the Police. They responded after I gave them dierections to the location not one mile from the police station!
I settled back to look for some other signs of activity. A pair of Ravens flew over and landed on the pylons. A Common Sandpiper called as did several Meadow Pipits migrating overhead and a couple of Siskins. Grey and Pied Wagtails were active.
I decided to move round to the small res to see what was happening. A police van and car were there so I got out and had a chat with a police woman whilst her colleague made his way over to the three shooters.
It turned out that they had licences to take the geese, which was fine by me, but what I was concerned about was that they were taking pot-shots at anything and the proximity to the road. I got a call from the Willife Officer later who was going to take the matter up with them.
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