Golden days on the Isle of Sheppey
By Alan Jarrett.
IT was a morning of frustration in pursuit of geese, which on this morning were notable by their absence! All was not bust though, for a very nice high mallard drake had smacked into the flooding creek, which gave me something to take home.
This was only day two of being out with the younger dog unaided by the old girl who was now grounded after gross misbehaviour in this very place (another in a run of such behaviour which was no doubt doggy dementia!). The second bird to hit the water had dropped further out, and unsighted ‘Barley’ had fallen short when the older dog would have retrieved that one all day long!
The wigeon floated off belly up, and fortunately, obviously quite dead; meanwhile ‘Barley’ contented himself with retrieving a spent cartridge case from the flood! Since then, and in no time at all, he has come on at an enormous rate, and is now making such retrieves as routine.
