Category: Lead

Pheasants, partridges and Red Grouse are, obviously, three-dimensional objects (they wouldn’t make much of a meal otherwise), whereas the X-rays are two-dimensional. Here is just an example, it’s from one of the partridges, of how two separate X-rays of the same bird can show the shot to appear to be in very different places.

Yesterday’s mystery bird was a Red Grouse. And on closer inspection we see all the usual fragments of small pieces of lead (picked out (only some of them) with red arrows) And here is a second Red Grouse… And a larger image of part of the carcasse with the lead fragments indicated with red arrows…

Yesterday’s mystery bird was another partridge – are you getting good at this? Here again, some of the lead fragments are highlighted in red. Again, there are lots of them and the fragments are really small and spread through the flesh of the live (but dying bird) and through the meat when it arrives on…

Yesterday’s mystery bird was a partridge – although I’m not sure which species of partridge because my identification skills are rather dependent on plumage characteristics and call.   The cause of death was probably being shot!  There are five very obvious, bright, round shots distributed through the bird’s body. In fact, look closely, and there…

Yesterday’s mystery bird was a Pheasant – did you all get it? I find bird identification much more difficult when they are plucked and X-rayed. It was part of a package of game birds that a group of us bought at Lidgate’s in Holland Park Avenue, London some time ago. We assume this Pheasant was…