Spirits in the snow
In the days of my early wildfowling forays, I used to long for really cold weather with ice and snow and bitter winds. I know better now. Really Arctic weather drives the fowl right out of the country. What we want is mixed weather to keep the fowl moving. If the really cold weather goes on too long the fowl leave, and the wading birds start to die from starvation.
Three hard frosts are enough to get the duck off the inland marshes on to the shore and the pools in the saltings at flight time. Then the duck come tearing in and the whole romance of wildfowling comes into its own. There are duck in places where
