A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



The late Mr. R. Fielding Harmer, in the 

 appendix to Emerson's Wild Life on a Tidal 

 Wattr, says : 



A black stork was shot on Breydon Water on 

 27 June, 1877, also the only specimen of the 

 Mediterranean black-heade i gull ever shot in England 

 was killed here on 26 December, 1866. 



On 22 May, 1890, an Asiatic or Caspian plover 

 was shot on the North Denes close by Breydon. 

 This is the only specimen ever observed in 

 England. In former years, godwits, knots, and 

 grey plovers abounded, whilst ring dotterels, 

 greenshank, and turnstones were found in large 

 numbers. Spoonbills, avocets, and spotted red- 

 shank were obtained every season. For example, 

 on 20 May, 1866, and for three or four days 

 after, thousands of godwits and knots were pass- 

 ing in a north-easterly direction, followed for 

 several days by stragglers ; in May, 1877, only 

 two godwits were seen, and four knots were 

 shot. Some very heavy shoots have been made 

 on Breydon at swans, geese, wigeon, curlews, 

 godwits, knots, plovers and other fowl, but 

 during the last sixteen years fifteen or twenty 

 at a shoot is exceptional. The best season 

 Mr. Harmer remembered was the winter of 

 1854-5. All kinds of fowl were abundant and 

 fine specimens of smew, goosanders, mergansers, 

 and male golden-eyes were shot ; geese were 

 numerous, while coots, dunlin, knots, and plovers 

 abounded. He remembers two herds of swan 

 ' sitting,' one numbering seventeen birds and the 

 other thirty-four ; after that season he never saw 

 a larger herd of swans than eight until 1889, 

 when one numbering eighteen was counted. 

 Within Mr. Harmer's knowledge, two mature 

 females excepted, no brent geese were shot on 

 this water for forty years until 5 October, 1883, 

 when five were killed ; none have been seen 

 since. Seven is the largest number of spoon- 

 bills seen here at one time ; on 9 June, 1873, 

 however, three were killed at one shot. Five 

 is the greatest number of avocets seen here at 

 one time ; these appeared on 3 May, 1887, and 

 four were shot. These birds are seen in pairs 

 or singly, whilst spoonbills are generally found 

 singly. With the exception of two mature 

 birds, the red-necked grebe had not been seen 

 since 1852, 1854, and 1865, until 30 October, 

 1870, when a mature female was shot. In 1887 

 fewer curlews were seen than in any year pre- 

 viously, but during September and October grey 

 plovers were abundant, particularly from 9 to 1 7 

 September. This was quite a feature of the 

 autumnal migration. Two specimens of the 

 long-tailed duck were shot 27 and 28 October. 

 A Manx shearwater was caught alive in Septem- 

 ber, 1857, by an eel-picker. A grey phalarope 

 (immature male) was shot 28 September, 1887. 

 During December several bean geese arrived in 

 the North Marshes close to Breydon. Thirteen 



settled on the flats 8 January, 1888. The 

 absence of sheldrakes was a very noticeable 

 feature, only five having been seen during the 

 whole season. A male merganser was shot on 

 i March, 1888. The season for wild fowl 

 shooting proper for 1889-90 may be dismissed 

 as the worst on record. 



As the number of birds visiting the estuaries 

 has decreased, so have the professional and 

 amateur puntsmen. Nevertheless a sharp frost 

 not only drives all inland fowl to the coast, but 

 brings the frequenters of northern climes south- 

 ward, and excellent shooting may be enjoyed 

 upon the estuaries named, more especially if 

 launches and similar noisy craft are absent. In 

 former days some marvellous bags were made 

 by punt-shooters on the Stour, who used to 

 approach a big company of geese and wild 

 fowl with their punts in line, and firing together 

 at a signal, bag some hundreds at a volley. 

 Even at the present time during a sharp frost 

 these rivers are packed with wild birds, and 

 the flocks of geese, wigeon, and other fowl are 

 of almost incredible size. The author of 

 British Field Sports says he has seen upon the 

 Manningtree river a shoal of coots two miles 

 long and half a mile across as thick as they 

 could well swim. This statement probably 

 refers to the thirties. 



Forty years ago enormous flocks of common 

 and velvet scoters, scaup, and other ' hard ' fowl 

 used to frequent the coast from Yarmouth south- 

 wards to the Nore, and the writer's father 

 records having seen, while punting in the road- 

 steads from Kessingland Beach, a flock several 

 miles in length which must have contained tens 

 of thousands. It consisted almost entirely of 

 'curres' or short-winged fowl. His method of 

 punting in a seaway with a strong tide was 

 interesting. He carried a very long line and a 

 small anchor. When a flock was located the 

 anchor was dropped and plenty of line paid out. 

 The punt was steered away from the track, the 

 manipulator waiting an opportunity to sheer 

 back again. The stronger the tide the greater 

 the impetus attained by the punt, with attendant 

 advantages to the gunner. 



All ' curres ' or short-winged fowl at sea, 

 after floating a mile or two on the tide, are wont 

 to rise and fly back to their original starting 

 points, and fowlers would sometimes charter a 

 local fishing boat and anchor in the feeding 

 ground of the birds, so obtaining sport of a 

 kind. 



In the roadsteads scaup duck and common 

 scoter (the latter locally called ' black duck ') are 

 still to be found in hundreds, where fifty years 

 ago they were to be seen in countless thousands, 

 but they are practically useless and are therefore 

 seldom sought. The three most distinguished 

 punt-gunners in the country during the past 

 century were the late Mr. Fielding Harmer, the 

 late Mr. Fred Palmer, both of Great Yarmouth, 



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