Teals make an early arrival

I HAVE a friend who’s keen on duck shooting.

The duck shooting season started on September 1 and, as an annual ritual, on this day my friend is in place by dawn, hiding out in one of his favourite spots. When I met him the other day he was quite excited because he’d shot a good bag of teal.

Now this is interesting because these little ducks are rare and declining as an Irish breeding bird. At the last count in 2002 there were only between 350 and 550 breeding pairs in the country.