Bird sightings

Weather has them a little confused right now, but have still seen good numbers. Checked two places we will hunt this fall, both had partial burns this spring which made it easier to see the birds moving around. Should be a good spring barring large amounts of rain April to June.

Urge anyone you know to delay ditch and waterway mowing until August 1. Give the birds a place to nest and re-nest if needed.
 
Great point 100%IL. Recreational mowing of nesting habitat too. I can't believe some of the (large) areas of grass some folks mow around here for no apparent reason but to mow it:confused:.

I know I mentioned this before, but it seems over the last few years--here in McHenry County--the ditches seem to be left alone into July. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with an increase in pheasant sightings around here.
 
I was visiting family yesterday in Huntley. The roosters were cackling away. I think this weather will have them in high gear working their stuff for the ladies:thumbsup:.

Nick
 
This past weekend,I was at our NSTRA regional championship.Was the first on to the grounds and listened to roosters cackling all around me as well as two bonus turkeys gobbling from the woods down the street.Music to my ears!!!This was in Livingston Co.
 
ROCK said:
This past weekend,I was at our NSTRA regional championship.Was the first on to the grounds and listened to roosters cackling all around me as well as two bonus turkeys gobbling from the woods down the street.Music to my ears!!!This was in Livingston Co.
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Rock,

How did you do at regional? It was pretty hot for the dogs to be out working that much.
 
It was warm and sunny both days reaching 82 degrees each day,most dogs handled the heat very well.I took 1st in the qualifing round,then screwed up royaly on a marked bird in the final six and finished third,missing the final round by 8 points.Probably for the best because when I brought her back to the car,I realized she had blown out both of her front pads.I wouldn't have been able to run her in the final hour even if she made it.
 
ROCK said:
It was warm and sunny both days reaching 82 degrees each day,most dogs handled the heat very well.I took 1st in the qualifing round,then screwed up royaly on a marked bird in the final six and finished third,missing the final round by 8 points.Probably for the best because when I brought her back to the car,I realized she had blown out both of her front pads.I wouldn't have been able to run her in the final hour even if she made it.
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Still a nice show, congratulations! Hope the dogs pads mend well. I'm going to start running my GSP in the Fall. I'm hoping to get a Copper Nickel English Pointer this summer as well. The list is a little long though. Maybe I'll run into you in the Fall.

You didn't run Stephan's Star dog by chance in the qualifier did you?
 
If you don't mind shorthairs, What is a copper nickel pointer?
 
Copper Nickel is a many time champion stud Pointer. The female is out of Elhew bloodlines which is also a very highly sought after champion bloodline.
 
Ah gotcha. Thanks Shorthairs.

On the pheasant note; a few days back my dad had a rooster come right up to his back yard on the north end of the county. He said they're starting to cackle more too. Things were quiet up until then:confused:
 
In the qualifing round I was braced against Tom Rotundo's Chase.
Good luck on getting a pointer out of those lines,should be a great combo of lines.
Tough foot has worked wonders on her pads.
 
Another wet spring in this part of the state (thus far) though no serious flooding. Low areas are too wet to support nests right now.

How's central and southern IL doing?
 
Livingston,Ford and Iroquois are ok.Was out that way dog training this morning and saw very little standing water in farm fields and crp.Crp fields are getting tall fast as well.
 
I've already been seeing some reports from guys here in central IL that have seen nests that have hatchered. All good sized nests as well and the weather for the next few weeks is looking sunny and dry. Looking like this fall is shaping up to be a good one.
 
Thanks for the updates guys, and sorry for the delayed response:eek: We've been good up here lately too. No flooding rains that last couple of weeks. Unfortunately I haven't had time to check on birds the last couple of months but from what I've seen the habitat is looking very good.

Nick
 
I know it's late in the season but I like to give good news whenever I can. Earlier today I spoke with a farmer friend from the area. Each year I ask him how many pheasants he sees/flushes while harvesting his crops.

He said he saw more pheasants this fall (while harvesting) than he's seen in a very long time. He's not seeing numbers like the late 80's or early/mid 90's, but we are heading somewhat in the right direction around here.

Also, all the areas I've walked this past fall have zero sign of coyotes:confused: I've noticed a decline the past 3 years or so. At least that's the case where I'm keeping an eye on things. Some clients are noticing the same thing with coyotes. This, along with leaving ditches alone may have something to do with more birds showing up around here.
 
Every field I have hunted so far has had great numbers. We have seen our fair share of CRP coming out but also some going back in. Still having issues with ditch mowing so hopefully that can stop. Haven't seen hardly any coyotes. I think with the AR15 becoming more main stream and no other use for it in Illinois a lot of guys have been hitting the coyotes hard. Plus the pelt price is very good right now.
 
I think I know why they (coyotes) are decreasing the way there are in a lot of areas. I'll try to get to it later tonight or tomorrow.
 
We noticed this year bow hunting and on trail cameras less coyotes. We wondered if it was just our neighborhood and that the Amish had night vision equipment now. No that is not a joke they have night vision for coyote hunting now. We just hope it's not being used for poaching deer.
 
I think a (possible) cause for the decline in coyote numbers may have something to do with the on-going decline of Illinois' deer herd. It's not what it used to be for a number of reasons.

An example as to how dependent they can be on deer; A land owner told me about her neighbors and a coyote den (with pups) just off their property. The property was located in a dense-deer area within the county. For a month or so a trail camera was taking photos of what the female/bitch was bringing back to her pups.

Over the course of a month she brought back over 20 fawns to her den/pups. If coyote/pups are that dependent on deer fawns, it may very well be they no longer have the amount of deer fawns available to propagate like we've seen in the past:confused:.

This is only a theory. Other than that, I think 100%IL has a good point too. More people are hunting coyotes these days. They're open year-round and fun guns/scopes can legally be used to kill them.
 
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