Pinkfooted Geese in flight
Anyone who classes him or herself as a wildfowler will ensure that they know their quarry & can identify it under all wildfowling conditions. Besides being an offence in law to shoot a protected species, the resulting publicity surrounding such an act will do much to tarnish the reputation of your fellow fowlers. On conviction of such an offence you will probably have your shotgun certificate revoked & a hefty fine for your carelessness. The political climate being what it is our sport can ill afford any bad publicity.
Visits to a local bird reserve or estuary will help towards sharpening your Identification skills take a good identification book. A good pair of binoculars or a telescope is essential & warm clothing will be needed as the best time to get to know your quarry is early morning or late evening (Flighting Times) when the birds are moving between their roosting & feeding areas. A good local reserve is the R.S.P.B. Blacktoft Sands situated at the Trent Falls where the rivers Ouse & Trent meet the Humber & close to the village of Ousefleet. The Barton Claypits reserve and the Waters' edge site at Barton on Humber are two other good areas to visit. These reserves are managed by helpful staff who will point you to the best area to see the species you wish to study. There is no substitute for experience, go out with an experienced wildfowler if possible your knowledge will increase in leaps & bounds. Make sure you follow any instructions, the foreshore can be a dangerous place for the unwary.
Several of the quarry species visit the Humber some in good numbers and some in smaller numbers, the most common ducks are Mallard, Wigeon (from October) and Teal, small numbers of Pochard, Tufted, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Shoveler and Pintail do occur from time to time. Greylag and Pinkfoot are present all year round their numbers being boosted by migrants in late September, along with smaller numbers of Whitefront. The Canada goose is an exception to the rule as it is resident in Britain and occurs in reasonable numbers on the Humber. Other species which may under certain conditions be confused with the quarry eg : Shelduck & Barnacle geese do visit the estuary.
In good light no excuse can be made for shooting any protected species. Remember learn to identify your quarry in all types of conditions : moonlight, bad weather, bad light and good light for only then will you be confident when you pull the trigger that it is a quarry species you are shooting. The onus to keep within the law is down to you if you have any doubt don't shoot further information on the do's and don'ts of quarry are available here http://www.jncc.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=3614
At present there are a total of 4 Geese, 9 Ducks and 1 Wader on the wildfowling quarry list at the moment, the Canada goose has now also been added to the "General Licence" for pest control purposes, these are as follows:
The links below contain photographs and brief descriptions of the quarry with their calls, please be patient the audio may take a while to load (to replay the audio simply hit refresh or leave the page then return) : - Greylag , Pinkfoot , Whitefront , Canada , Mallard , Wigeon , Teal , Pintail , Shoveler , Goldeneye , Pochard , Tufted , Gadwall , Golden Plover Quarry and non quarry species are sometimes confused under extreme wildfowling conditions, here are a few examples on NON QUARRY species which may cause confusion and may be present on the Humber :- Barnacle , Brent , Shelduck
TEAL (click on picture to visit Jon Baldur Hlidbergs Icelandic
website) Excellent illustrations of wildfowl & other
wildlife, click on each illustration that you wish to view.