The weather is going to be tough

bauerline

bauerline

Well-known member
It's been snowing for a while now and the wind is picking up. We expect to get around 8-12 inches of snow and then wind chills of -15 to -20 at night. I think the pheasants I've been seeing can handle it but I'm not sure about the quail that I've been finding. I think this storm and cold spell may be too much for the little guys.
 
This is pretty much the northern edge for the Bobwhite, it was the winter of 77/78 that wiped out over 90% of their population then, and they never recovered. The same can be said for NJ., a severve winter a couple of years ago pushed a declining population to the brink.

It will be interesting to see how your released birds fair, let's keep our fingers crossed.
 
I went out to see if I could find any signs of the quail or pheasants after work. It was 11 degrees with a wind chill of -1. The dogs worked the switchgrass and food plot without luck. We went through a small wooded area to work a draw and the far tree line where I found the quail before. But we didn't have any luck. But the dogs looked happy and I think they were smiling.
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We worked our way back to where we started without finding any tracks or anything. Then the dogs started ground tracking and I saw the first set of pheasant tracks. Then Nittany and Blitz finally locked up.
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A hen flushed out of the woods but I wasn't able to get a picture. It went to the field and Blitz had one more point.
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And with that we went back to the truck. No bird pictures today but it was still productive.
 
The pheasants will have no problem with this weather, and if there's no ice sheet the quail might be alright.

Make sure you take your camera and take lots of pictures at the Flushing Survey!
 
The pheasants seem to be doing OK. Saw 5 hens and 4 roosters as I drove home. Not all are in the picture:
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I hope my wife soon gets home so I can get the dogs out for a little. Still want to try and find the quail.
 
I got out but didn't find any quail. Blitz had a nice point in the switchgrass and I went to take a picture but the cold killed the battery. Two roosters flushed out and it would have been a nice picture of birds flushing from snow covered grass. Maybe another day.
 
Tell your wife a lot of us are counting on her being prompt, so no dilly dalling! J/K :)

Do you feed those birds?
 
It's been over a month since I saw the quail and we're getting another 6-8 inches of snow today. Then another storm will bring some freezing rain on Wednesday. It's not looking good for the little guys. I blame the groundhog and his weather prediction skills.
 
If I find or hear any quail this spring I will be quite surprised. We are getting 12-16 inches of snow today and that is falling on top of snow that had a hard crust on it. I did see some pheasants a couple of days ago and I think they can make it. But I don't have much hope for the little birds.
 
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