As I've written about before the landscape changes in bird country from year to year but the current shift in land use is I'm afraid a more permanent one. There are many factors at play here mainly driven by the upward trend in commodity prices for crops. Any programs that benefit wildlife in any way will increasingly come under pressure also as the government simply runs out of ways to pay for them. As a bird hunter it means enjoy it while you can as it certainly will not be the same in the future.
The Setter's and I headed out last night for an evening run to a favorite preseason spot that usually holds both Pheasant and Grouse. 320 acres of rolling hills and a few small sloughs. This has been a hay field that usually has been cut only once a year and sometimes not at all in prior year's.
I set the hounds loose and we began our walk to the west. The field had been cut in June and the round bales were still in the field where the baler had left them. Many times in the early morning the birds will hop on top to catch the rays from the sun drying their feathers wet from the morning dew. The Setter's were glad to be here remembering it I'm sure from our trips here over the years. As I looked around the adjacent fields were in wheat and sunflowers this year. The flowers had bloomed about two weeks ago meaning the birds would head to them as a food source now all season long. They may still use the hay fields for hopper's as long as they can but sunflowers are a high value food for the birds. As we walked back through the field I noticed the slough's had been completely mowed off. I hadn't thought about this but due to dry weather this year they were dry in many areas allowing the farmer's to mow right through them reclaiming the field space from the expanding cattails. Another habitat loss for the birds. Then as we swung around to the south we came over a rise and saw a couple tractors in the field along with a mower rake and baler. This meant the field was to be cut again this year. I had hunted this spot many times over the year's and it was always used by the birds throughout the season but I guess due to the shortage of hay with drought conditions across the countryside it meant we would have to find yet another place to do the dance.
I walked a little slower after I realized we wouldn't be hunting here this year as a second cutting and no sloughs simply meant the birds had no reason to be here. I loved to hunt here as it was overlooked by the gang hunters as just marginal cover not worth the walk but with good pointing dog's was a perfect spot. It didn't hold a lot of birds but the challenge was always to just find a few then get them pinned down long enough for a shot in what was pretty sparse cover for the most part.
As we drove home we passed another similar spot we frequent and sure enough there sat the equipment ready to cut the hay a second time as well leaving virtually nothing for cover the rest of the season. I thought then about maybe hunting more federal grasslands or waterfowl production areas. But it has been so much fun to find big open spaces close to home often reminding me of just walking down the railroad tracks behind my house as a kid with my Brittany Spaniel at my side. What my friend Bernie would say is" what we need to find is a poor farmer". I asked what he meant and he said " Somebody that leaves the crops in the field to long and isn't particular about the weeds!" All things that benefit the birds of course is what he meant. But with modern farming methods and equipment even marginal land can be utilized profitably these days. Habitat. Going. Going.....Gone.
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