NEWS FLASH: Drought ends at Ponderosa

Wheat harvest has started in Ford County.

Ducks on the pond(playa)

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This playa that is in the WRP program was dry for a couple years, but the spring rains brought it back and it is teeming with wildlife.
 
M. R. Byrd said:
Wheat harvest has started in Ford County.

Ducks on the pond(playa)

IMG_8401-001_zpssjnlftur.jpg


This playa that is in the WRP program was dry for a couple years, but the spring rains brought it back and it is teeming with wildlife.
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That's what they are known for! Looks great! Baby ducks in the desert, ironic:)
 
I find it amazing that the Wildlife find those Playas within days and nest like that!!! Thanks Again Maynard!! Our Sainfoin is not doing as well as yours.. PH is too high I think..The Small Burnet exploded this year and the yellow sweet clover is crazy as usual... 2 big bucks jumped up next to the field and then seen them feeding in there nightly.. There is some alfalfa in some spots as well, but the Small Burnet is flowering and I bet seeding out...Saw the first Blue Grouse there last year..Nice flock of Merriams,gray and red fox and with Apples and plums and chokecherries finally doing good the bears should be around again. All the cameras have new batteries, so we will see what is around..:cheers:
 
Funny that the 10% chance of spotty showers yesterday produced a storm that was about 3 counties wide and covered from 3 counties deep into Nebraska to about the same into Oklahoma. It gave us 1.12 inches of nice, slow rain. The 60-90% predictions gave me either zip or .02. Betting on horses has a better predictability this year!!!
 
Prairie Drifter said:
Funny that the 10% chance of spotty showers yesterday produced a storm that was about 3 counties wide and covered from 3 counties deep into Nebraska to about the same into Oklahoma. It gave us 1.12 inches of nice, slow rain. The 60-90% predictions gave me either zip or .02. Betting on horses has a better predictability this year!!!
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They sure didn't want to move either..McCook, Neb got hammered as well as N and W of Hays,Kansas. I bet she is a bit sticky today!!lol:cheers:
 
BleuBijou said:
I find it amazing that the Wildlife find those Playas within days and nest like that!!! Thanks Again Maynard!! Our Sainfoin is not doing as well as yours.. PH is too high I think..The Small Burnet exploded this year and the yellow sweet clover is crazy as usual... 2 big bucks jumped up next to the field and then seen them feeding in there nightly.. There is some alfalfa in some spots as well, but the Small Burnet is flowering and I bet seeding out...Saw the first Blue Grouse there last year..Nice flock of Merriams,gray and red fox and with Apples and plums and chokecherries finally doing good the bears should be around again. All the cameras have new batteries, so we will see what is around..:cheers:
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Ah, the joys of watching new life in both wildlife and plants. I certainly enjoy spring. Good to hear the wildlife is doing well.

My sainfoin stands are getting hit pretty hard with grasses. I may have to use a grass herbicide to knock it back some. My pH runs in the 7.5 to 7.7 range usually and sometimes up to 7.9. I do have a little patch of Delmar small burnet. I haven't checked it for awhile. Have some older chicory patches that the deer will hammer sometimes. Last fall they really hammered the newly planted chicory. I have lots of yellow clover this year and a little white clover. Quite a buffet.
 
The Ponderosa had 0.35" this morning early. It came with a lot of wind and laid more uncut wheat down. Not far away was some reports of 1.50"
 
The wildlife is not the only ones reproducing! Birch gave me 8 well marked pups yesterday between noon and 4:30. 6 girls and 2 boys all have masks. Got some nice body spots as well. Gonna be seeing a lot of different babies in the coming days!
 
Prairie Drifter said:
The wildlife is not the only ones reproducing! Birch gave me 8 well marked pups yesterday between noon and 4:30. 6 girls and 2 boys all have masks. Got some nice body spots as well. Gonna be seeing a lot of different babies in the coming days!
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Congratulations!
 
Nice catch Maynard! 12-13 that I can count. I hope they all do that well. Makes you want several coon skin hats, huh?
 
Counted 13 chicks and three adults in this pic.

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I didn't do a good job reducing the coon and coyote numbers last fall/winter. Need to do better this year.
 
Grand central station at headquarters this evening. Got back there about 7:30PM, got a bucket of mineral for the cattle and headed to the corral to put it out. There in the corral ahead of me was a quail brood. My camera in the truck and my iPhone wouldn't take either picture or video. I watch them for a bit and hear another brood to my left outside the pens. As I stand there for just a bit, I see a young brood of pheasants exiting the young shelterbelt around the corrals. The chicks looked to be the size of an adult quail. But it doesn't stop there, as I see a hen turkey then another walking through the young trees and shrubs and then a tom following. Ended up being four hens and one tom. I dump the mineral and head back to the truck to get my camera and on the way on the other side of the house in the tree row is a momma coon with young ones in tow. I get the camera and head towards the coons, but they have disappeared. The turkey were still wandering about and I got a picture of them. I saw lots but all I have to show for it is a picture of the turkeys and the sunset. A great evening for me.

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I see 2 small birds in front of the turkeys, are they song birds? What an evening!!!:coolpics:
 
Yeah, it's those darn invasive ninja quail that photo bombed the scene. Some bunnies in the background also.


Some people think for the Ponderosa to have robust quail population there must be some planting of birds going on. Just to set the record straight there has been quail planted at the Ponderosa. A game warden/biologist released ten quail fifty-eight years ago.


"Build it and they will come"

.
 
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M. R. Byrd said:
Some people think for the Ponderosa to have robust quail population there must be some planting of birds going on. Just to set the record straight there has been quail planted at the Ponderosa. A game warden/biologist released ten quail fifty-eight years ago.


"Build it and they will come"

.
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This sentiment needs to be echoed more often. Instead of the nothing has changed attitude and deer and turkeys are eating the quail eggs argument or predator #'s have soared to astronomical heights.
 
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