With the Idaho chukar opener 90 days away I've been searching for good news. I've already seen a picture of some young chukars in Nevada that were big enough to have hatched in May, but not seeing or hearing anything exciting in Oregon or Idaho. Jake and I continue to search for good news but so far have come up empty handed. We've seen about the same thing every trip. We bump three or four singles that usually fly pretty far. I'm theorizing that the single is flying away from it's partner sitting on the nest. I've only seen one pair in the last ten days. We've also seen at least one blue grouse on each trip.
We try to get up on the mountain early to beat the heat but it's getting tougher each week.
About two hours of hiking and we're out of water so we keep our trips shorter. As dry as it is, there are plenty of seeps and hidden springs for the birds and other wildlife. The birds aren't in danger of lack of water and if grass hoppers are any sign of how the other insects are doing they won't starve to death either. Still, I'm excited to see some young ones.
Jake gives me a point every now and than, but most of the time it's a false point.
Sometimes it leads me to some promising sign.
These small chukar tracks will just have to keep me positive for a while. 90 days is a lot of time.
Sometimes it leads me to some promising sign.
These small chukar tracks will just have to keep me positive for a while. 90 days is a lot of time.
2 comments:
Interesting. Surely they have hatched some. Lots of food, go figure. Hows the water situation in the hills? I know its hot but chukars are such a tough bird, probably could live on limited water. Maybe they are well hidden. Good luck on your future trips, I'm sure they are somewhere.
Alan and Mays.
Alan,
You're right. I fought a fire by our house today and found some little ones. I've never seen quail around here this early but todays events showed I'm not looking hard enough.
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