I guess it's spring
- Thread starter calamari
- Start date
Calisdad
New member
All our ornamental trees popped these last few days. Fortunately the fruiting trees have waited. Our bandtail pigeons came back last week. The 125% snowpack has dropped to 95%. Where is 'the child'?
Biggest flock of Sand Hills I've ever seen went over the house yesterday. Over 100 and they weren't messing around electing new leaders every 1/8th mile. Definitely spring!
It's been awhile since we had many Band-tails in the foothills. Used to be the most common game bird with the longest season of all and a very generous limit until their population crashed. Now there's a flock of about 50-75 using the oaks on a ridge near our house. Good to see a slight uptick in their numbers however I did have one dying in our yard that I reported to DFW a year ago. It was apparently blind and disoriented which were the symptoms of a disease that was killing them. It was sad to see. If anyone has seen a sick Band-tail there is a site to make a report.
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conserv...fe-Investigations/Monitoring/Mortality-Report
It's been awhile since we had many Band-tails in the foothills. Used to be the most common game bird with the longest season of all and a very generous limit until their population crashed. Now there's a flock of about 50-75 using the oaks on a ridge near our house. Good to see a slight uptick in their numbers however I did have one dying in our yard that I reported to DFW a year ago. It was apparently blind and disoriented which were the symptoms of a disease that was killing them. It was sad to see. If anyone has seen a sick Band-tail there is a site to make a report.
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conserv...fe-Investigations/Monitoring/Mortality-Report
Man, I hope you're right. It's getting close to chick time so cold won't be good if there's much rain. Accuweather doesn't show it as being bad. Two days of rain in March for Sacto and then a few days with scattered showers is what they show and only two days in the mid 50s. The moisture may make some bugs to help any young birds but then this is all based on long range weather predictions and we know how accurate they are. Moisture and cool will be good for the animals. Fruit growers, not so much.
We jokingly call AccuWeather Crapuweather because their forecasts are pretty worthless. Our cherry orchard is close to blooming so it is something we have to deal with but we desperately need the rain
When we had wetter weather patterns in the past there were two things I could always depend on. That it always rained a little and got cooler just before dove opener on 1 Sept. and that it always rained just when the cherry's first went on the market and the moisture would split the fruit. I hope that doesn't happen this year but as NewmanCA said, we do need the moisture.
Calisdad
New member
The forecasts have been changing quite a bit. It was supposed to start dripping a bit at 10 am today but waited until 8pm.
Sometimes Accuweather is amazingly accurate. ex; we will get 1.13 inches between 11am and 4pm and damn if it doesn't. Most of our fruit trees are still holding off but the ornamentals are leafing out with this warm spell. Here's my Bubble Gum Plum (Krauter Vesuvius)
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...=b81e79201835c4cb3bab68fdd7f39fd3&oe=5759CC1B
Sometimes Accuweather is amazingly accurate. ex; we will get 1.13 inches between 11am and 4pm and damn if it doesn't. Most of our fruit trees are still holding off but the ornamentals are leafing out with this warm spell. Here's my Bubble Gum Plum (Krauter Vesuvius)
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...=b81e79201835c4cb3bab68fdd7f39fd3&oe=5759CC1B
I went with a friend to the Port-O-Sacramento and trolled in the Deep Water Channel. All the trees are leafing and some are blooming. The herons are in their nests in the Cottonwoods and we saw a couple of Red Tailed Hawks mate in a tree and Northern Harriers doing courtship flights. I heard a pheasant crow too. I'm having fish sticks for dinner. My friend had the only strike.
We went back to the Deep Water Channel last week just after they started to really flood the Yolo Bypass. We saw two roosters fighting for a crowing station and about 2 miles up the Channel another rooster crowing. A little later a flock of about 6-7 hens flew across the Channel and landed in the mustard about 50 yards from us. I saw more pheasants that one day than in the last three years in Calif. Has to be because the Bypass was flooded and forced them onto the levees.
On a separate note, Doug LaMalfa and Tom McClintock scuttled a potential agreement that included a provision to get a guaranteed water source to the Lower klamath/ Tule lake Basin that virtually everybody except a few State Of Jefferson backers around Yreka wanted. There is also going to be an initiative drive this year to change the state's constitution to make domestic use the primary use for water in the state followed by agricultural use with nothing for wildlife. LaMalfa and McClintock are up for re-election this year. If you like to hunt and fish they aren't your friends.
On a separate note, Doug LaMalfa and Tom McClintock scuttled a potential agreement that included a provision to get a guaranteed water source to the Lower klamath/ Tule lake Basin that virtually everybody except a few State Of Jefferson backers around Yreka wanted. There is also going to be an initiative drive this year to change the state's constitution to make domestic use the primary use for water in the state followed by agricultural use with nothing for wildlife. LaMalfa and McClintock are up for re-election this year. If you like to hunt and fish they aren't your friends.