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I haven't seen any in 25 years now, the farm has been since tiled ,drained , and all brush removed for the last 15 to 18 years and is now producing grain crops .Quote:
there will be pheasant there.
The place is only 1 1/2 kilometers as the crow flies from my place , so I see it a couple of times a week.
My friends pheasant paradise is gone and so is he.
I saw about a doz Huns on route to Petawawa the other day...feeding beside standing corn near the roadway off Galeta side road near Ottawa...they are here and the ones that are seem hardy as the snow and cold this year have been brutal. When I was a kid we saw huns all over..Winchester and Kemptville areas....they needed hedges and lots of winter cover and food...ice storm didn't help and a biologist also told me back then the switch to a clear cut liquid manure practice destroyed nesing habitat...I also ran into several people in that area that reported (COs) that were finding a lot of overharvesting of birds....why the season closed then in Mid Nov...birds vulnerable when snow flew....as for pheasant...there's a good wild pop right in the Humber river valley in GTA and surrounding golf courses..my Uncle and I run into them fishing and golfing....lol
Well now those birds days are numbered. If you want birds to hunt later a little tip don't put it on the internet.Quote:
Originally Posted by recurve40
Well....the land is posted and totally private there....thanks for the chastize but a point...that landowner allows NO hunting at all...for anything...I've know him for years....I doubt the birds days are numbered...they are all over 17 near the farmlands....many more in Ottawa itself where there is no hunting....habitat encroachement itself has stopped them from being hunted near here as well...huns are regularily seen at feeders in the winter here....
The good thing about Huns is....it needs Farms......it is often called the "Farm Bird"....so it needs People......they really don't need the shelterbelts as much like all the other upland birds do.......out west an old Barn or parked Farm Equipment is what they use for shelter....but they do need the right crops (Grains of any kind) and with wheat and Barley prices up....Farmers are planting more Grains.....the reason Huns seem scarce is because Ontario is a HUGE chunk of land and Birds are dispersed over a wide range....in Alberta, its really not a big area...when compared to Ontario that is. Example.....if Alberta lets say has 1million Birds province wide and the same for Ontario....you would find them easier in Alberta whereas in Ontario it would be a lot harder to locate Coveys because of Ontarios size.
Not to Hijack a thread but I believe this falls in line when talking about "habitat loss".
Last nights paper , article about farms in Ontario , The total number of farms is decreasing but they ones remaining are actually getting larger.
According to Statistics Canada since 1991 to 2011 , the number of farms dropped by 74,000 but the average farm increased in size from 80 hectares to 315 hectares, [roughly 200 acres to almost 800 acres].
When you take this into consideration, that would have taken out a lot of marginal land that was good habitat for wildlife, as this land would now be worked over tiled and drained in most cases to make these large farms productive and profitable .
It's a shame but that is the way things are going now, I have seen a lot of this around here where we live brushy weed choked areas around bush lots cleared , this has happened on our neighbors farm along with fence lines taken out which did proved marginal habitat for some species , unfortunate but that is what's happening.
As much as we all would want to see reintroduction of a few different species of birds, with the decreasing amount of habitat in southern Ontario it seems to be a lost cause .
So as someone mentioned the only way to increase the amount of hunting time in the field for certain species of birds , is to get out and put the miles on our vehicles and travel much farther from our home base if we still want to enjoy our time in the field.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaycee
Good Post Jaycee....there was more to this article......the good news also is (good if your wildlife)....a lot of Farms are going "out of production" (a lot of folks buying 100 acre plots and not farming them).....a lot of these places are reverting back to suitable habitat for a lot of species and the average age of framers is older (no younger gens getting into it) and the number of Farmers is down......good news and bad news (means we may rely more on imported products at higher costs).....see, here is where education should kick in.....the "Greenies" want alternate or cleaner fuels...so, Ethanol (corn based fuel by-products or Flexfuels) were created....this has caused a big demand for Corn.....southern Ontario is prime for growing corn..... a lot of foreign investors buying up chunks of land and clearing as much as they can for a higher yield.....so the "Greenies" think this is great...we are saving the Planet....see, they have no idea the destruction it causes for wildlife...not just Upland Birds.
That is one of my biggest complaints , the amount of land being taken out of production for other crops to grow corn for ethanol.Quote:
by Pointersrule; .....southern Ontario is prime for growing corn..... a lot of foreign investors buying up chunks of land and clearing as much as they can for a higher yield.....so the "Greenies" think this is great...we are saving the Planet....see, they have no idea the destruction it causes for wildlife...not just Upland Birds.
Corn now is grown with rows 12 inches apart to get more , whereas it used to be planted from 16 to 22 inches apart and wildlife could at least travel through more easily and use it for cover but not now .
Unfortunately it is the way the world is going , the almighty dollar rules everything with no forethought to what we are doing to our surroundings.
Manchurian Cross Pheasants are a hardy bird to introduce into the wild and also roost in tree's.
Hey , guess what all pheasants roost in trees ;
Common Pheasants are native to Asia, their original range extending from between the Black and Caspian Seas to Manchuria, Siberia, Korea, Mainland China and Taiwan. The birds are found in woodland, farmland, scrub, and wetlands. In its natural habitat the Common Pheasant lives in grassland near water with small copses of trees.[16] Extensively cleared farmland is marginal habitat that cannot maintain self-sustaining populations for long[18]
Common Pheasants are gregarious birds and outside the breeding season form loose flocks. Wherever they are hunted they are always timid once they associate humans with danger, and will quickly retreat for safety after hearing the arrival of hunting parties in the area.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...santChicks.png http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.2...gnify-clip.png
Chicks about 1 hour after hatching
While Common Pheasants are able short-distance fliers, they prefer to run. If startled however, they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed, with a distinctive "whirring" wing sound and often giving kok kok kok calls to alert conspecifics. Their flight speed is only 43–61 km/h (27–38 mph) when cruising but when chased they can fly up to 90 km/h (56 mph).
Common Pheasants feed solely on the ground but roost in sheltered trees at night. They eat a wide variety of animal and vegetable type-food, like fruit, seeds and leaves as well as a wide range of invertebrates, with small vertebrates like snakes, lizards, small mammals, and birds occasionally taken.
also they are flocking birds as opposed to some ones previous post that they do not flock together . [second paragraph]