Life of a Chalkstream: Duck wars

Dear Simon,

Mallards might look cute but they are in many respects, horrid bullies. I often see a group of four or five drakes ganging up, to use the polite phrase, on a single hen. Stones. Shouting. Waving arms. They seem immune to all my attempts at moderating their behaviour though last week I did provide some sort of salvation to our Indian Runner duck who fell in with a bad crowd.

As I told you last time we have a new resident here at Nether Wallop Mill, a flightless Indian Runner duck who has appeared from who knows where. He (or maybe she) is the weirdest of birds, a bit of a waddling fool but he seemed to have slotted into the duck community fully versed in the feeding times of the trout successfully competing with them, and other ducks, at pellet time. However not everyone, it seems, cared for him.

The Murdering Mallards (Note guide Malcolm getting in some sneaky casting practice!)

One day last week there was a terrific commotion in one of the side streams; frantic quacking, smashing of water and the thrashing of wings. Following the noise I saw our Indian Runner pinned by two drake mallards against the hatch at the end of the stream.

One had him by the neck and the other seemed intent on drowning him. Would they have succeeded? I do not know but my intervention separated the trio though the mallards took every bit of my human persuasion to quit the fight.

Why did they attack? Well, mallards are famous for their aggression both at breeding time around now and generally when anyone competes with them for food. For a few days they seem to have succeeded, Indian Runner disappearing but I am pleased to say he is back with duck harmony restored, the fight apparently forgotten as they all contentedly cruise around together.

First cuckoo of the year

Up early on Easter Sunday to pay homage to my particular faith: chalkstreams. The forecast was for sun and blue skies soon after dawn and so it was as I left my trail in the dewy grass as I did a three mile circuit to take photographs at Island Farms on the River Test.

It was glorious moment to be amongst the water meadows in spring with everything so green and fresh. Not much was moving for it was really quite chilly so I had few companions as I walked until, somewhere a little way away, the sound of a cuckoo came to me across the meadows.

Common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)

Cuckoos, migrants to these lands, once common, are increasingly rare even to hear let alone see; in my entire life I have only once knowingly seen one. But back to Sunday: 20/April seemed early to me for a southern England cuckoo so not being much of an ornithologist I called on Mr Google back at home. I never knew but apparently 14/April St. Tiburtius Day, he being a Christian martyr buried on this day, marks the date you might traditionally first hear the cuckoo song though the date will be later the further north you live. At the other end of the cuckoo British residency is 24/June, St. John the Baptist's Day, when the last cuckoo will depart for their sub-Saharan African home.

The reasons for the decline in the cuckoo population seem sketchy, though the data is firm on a 65% reduction since the1980’s. One reason posited was changes in the population of the four main host species the Dunnock, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail and Reed Warbler but they have mostly held steady. More likely is the lack of food, both here in the UK and along the migration paths, with the decline of the overall insect population and in particular that cuckoo favourite, the hairy caterpillar.

Mayfly Thursdays at Barton Court

As you will know our fishing diaries are in constant flux for a whole variety of reasons so unexpected opportunities pop up.

One such is at Barton Court where a whole bunch of Thursdays have freed up, including some prime Mayfly dates which are available for single Rods to small groups. Just by way of information you may notice Barton Court is closing at the end of July which is to allow an extensive restoration of the river to take place in time for a full season in 2026.

I also have a good selection of Mayfly dates at Island Farms, our recently added beat on the River Test. I know you sometimes, rightly, give me grief for two or three Rod minimums in Mayfly but Island Farms bucks that trend with a single Rod available daily in Mayfly and one or two Rods for the remainder of the season.

Barton Court

Island Farms

Fishing Breaks has a vacancy

I am sad to say, as Jamie will be leaving us soon, we have a vacancy here in Nether Wallop in the Fishing Breaks office to fill.

It is a full time, office based sales and administration role supporting Sarah, Diane and myself, plus the team out on the river. Day-to-day you will be chatting with clients, taking and processing booking, plus liaising with river keepers, guides and owners. You will definitely have to be very organised, good on the phone and like technology – a lot of the work requires an excellent working knowledge of Outlook, Excel and Word.

Do you need to know how to fish? Well, not necessarily but you should have a keen interest in outdoor pursuits and the countryside. From time to time you will get out on the river and if you like to fly fish, well that is a perk of the job!

Applicants should have a full driving licence, live within reasonable distance of Nether Wallop and be available to start sometime in June. Please reply with your CV and a covering email to Simon Cooper simon@fishingbreaks.co.uk

The Vice Master is back

We are not quite at the end of April but it is still soon enough to bring you a sneak preview of our monthly Feedback Draw prize, the truly amazing flies tied by our vice master Nigel Nunn which I am featuring for the third year.

As ever your feedback replies go into the draw at the end of that month, the prize being a special selection for the following month; this is the Mayfly selection that will be awarded to the April winner in the next Newsletter.