Good signs

I spent the day on the chukar mountain and was tickled to see all the green up as well as loads of tiny hoppers. Everything is prime for a fantastic hatch, which should be coming on in the next couple of weeks. I didn’t hear or see a bird, which is another good sign that the hens are sitting. They don’t travel much from the nest, thus leaving very little scent and have no need of communicating and drawing attention.

The next week is going to be very hot for the first week in June but that shouldn’t effect the hatch at all. If the hens were healthy when they started laying, there should be large number of eggs per nest. With our mild winter I suspect most hens were plenty healthy. Remember, chukars are a high desert bird and can withstand the heat. But they still need nourishment. So let’s pray for some moisture off and on for the next couple of months to keep all those chicks healthy that will soon be hitting the ground. No torrential rains, just enough to keep some green up.

Another good sign. Yesterday, Barb and I took the dogs for a hike in the timber. Grady bumped a male blue grouse, a male ruff grouse and three different toms. No females. I like to be an optimist an believe that there were plenty of females around, but they were sitting on nest and undetected by the dogs. I may be over optimistic, but I’m loving what I’m seeing.