1-18-15 Survey Pics

bauerline

bauerline

Well-known member
The team I was on for the flushing survey went to a farm that is several miles away from the nearest release site. We had 5 dogs that worked well and got along. We ended up moving 3 roosters and 3 hens and a bunch of deer. We saw 11 deer that all ran from the switchgrass. Some guys almost got ran over from the deer. Here are a few pictures.

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How large was the farm you surveyed? Was there connecting cover from the release site to the farm you did? Any reports on how the others did?

Looks like the birds are continuing to spread!

Thanks for the report and pictures!
 
I'm not sure how big the farm was but it did have some good switchgrass cover, maybe 40 ac. There are a lot of cut corn fields surrounding the farm but there was also some standing corn. I'm not familiar with the area to comment on the connecting cover. I think more birds have been seen on the farm in the past but today we just saw the six. I have not heard from the other groups but should hear something this week.
 
Here is some updated information from the survey:

Hello Everyone,



Many thanks to the wonderful group leaders, volunteers and bird dogs who braved some misty, foggy weather to help us conduct wild pheasant flushing surveys in the Hegins-Gratz Valley Wild Pheasant Recovery Area (WPRA) on Sunday!
43 people and 28 dogs helped survey.



A few people couldn?t make it because of icy roads and just as many stayed home due to illness. We hope to see you all again soon.



It was a tough day for flushing, weather-wise, and the birds held tight. Remember this is not a survey of total numbers of birds. The goal of flushing surveys is to flush a sample of the birds to determine the overall sex ratio. The sex ratio is then factored into population density estimates.



The numbers of male and female pheasants flushed are listed by group number and group leader below. A few more sites will be surveyed over the next few weeks, including an original release site in the Gratz Valley and another site in Hegins Valley where some birds have moved to from original release sites.



Wild pheasant sex ratios for both study areas will be calculated when all flushing surveys are completed. WPRA sex ratios have been holding steady around 1:1 for most sites and most years since wild pheasant recovery efforts began. This is typical for an unhunted wild pheasant population.



Preliminary Hegins-Gratz Valley wild pheasant flushing surveys, Sunday January 18, 2015:

M=Male, F=Female, U= unknown



03M:03F - Group 1: Brandon Black ? Gratz Valley ? not a release site*

12M:07F - Group 2: Kurt Bond ? Gratz Valley ? 2011 release site

07M:07F - Group 3: Colleen DeLong ? Hegins Valley ? 2011 release site

01M:00F - Group 3: DeLong (Site 2) - Hegins Valley ? not a release site*

15M:19F (4 U) - Group 4: Jim Kauffman ? Hegins Valley ? adjacent to a 2011 release site where the CREP habitat was converted back to cropland

01M:00F - Group 5: Will Dingman ? Hegins Valley ? not release sites*, 4 different small areas near original release sites



*We know about birds moving to new sites that were not original release sites because of radio tracking work conducted after releases.



Thanks again to all the great volunteers and dogs!



Please tell everyone you know in the WPRAs to contact our Pheasants Forever Habitat Biologists if they are interested in habitat for wild pheasants and other farmland wildlife! Let me know if you need contact info.



Thanks Again!



Colleen



Colleen DeLong

Wildlife Biologist

PA Game Commission
 
That's some good information, the sex ratio looks good for a non-hunting situation. Remember the purpose is not for the amount of birds, but to determin the sex ratio. There has NOT been any birds released for years, so all these birds were hatched right here, pretty neat.

A couple of things you can take to the bank, wild birds make all the difference in the world and given some good habitat we can have a wild pheasant population again.
 
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