Brood counts at Gray Lodge State Wildlife Area

[calamari]

This Thurs. I will be helping do brood counts at Gray Lodge. It will be interesting to see if the turkeys shot last fall increased the pheasant nest success. I'll report afterward.

[calamari]

Did the count but the change in the weather affected it. It had been hot and the birds were in a pattern that allowed us to know where to start but on the day we did it there was a marine layer with cold high fog that broke the pattern. Anyway we saw 9 juveniles of 4 ages. The smallest was the size of a quail and the oldest was an almost fully feathered rooster. It should be about like last year with no real improvement. Very little turkey sign although a little. The person running the show said that last year he'd seen turkeys with up to 10 young where this year they were 3-4 polts so the turkeys had a poor nesting year too.
DOVES--- I saw one. The Upper Butte Basin Wildlife Areas didn't plant any dove plots this year so Llano Seco, Howard Slough and Little Dry Creek have no dove food beyond what is there for other purposes. No safflower or sunflowers on those areas. Gary Lodge did their usual thing which is to plant small plots all over and not tell you where they are. May be a year for Spenceville and Thermalito.

[quail hound]

Thanks for the info. I saw a few decent broods at merced nwr a few weeks ago varying in age, to bad we can't pheasant hunt there. I haven't been out to Los banos but hopefully they had a decent hatch. Here's to the few wild birds left out there.