Hungarian Partridge South Alberta

[Mr Brown]

Hi Guys,

Just wondering to know if any body had seen good numbers of Huns around and if you have any idea if the nest was ruin from the rain last month.

Thansk

[Okotokian]

LOL Ok, before a couple of you go off half cocked, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this innocent and reasonable first post.

[Pudelpointer]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

LOL Ok, before a couple of you go off half cocked, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this innocent and reasonable first post.

^^ Weird.


As for Huns, it was shaping up to be a pretty good year before the rain. Honestly can not say what the situation is since.

As for pheasants, I saw a hen with 8 chicks a couple days before the rain/hail hit. Last week I saw her and another hen in the same area and they both had a good number of chicks (>6), so if that is any indication, it may be okay.

[ward]

Originally Posted by Mr Brown

Hi Guys,

Just wondering to know if any body had seen good numbers of Huns around and if you have any idea if the nest was ruin from the rain last month.

Thansk

I am a little curious about the wet spring and upland birds as well.

[winger7mm]

Originally Posted by Pudelpointer

^^ Weird.


As for Huns, it was shaping up to be a pretty good year before the rain. Honestly can not say what the situation is since.

As for pheasants, I saw a hen with 8 chicks a couple days before the rain/hail hit. Last week I saw her and another hen in the same area and they both had a good number of chicks (>6), so if that is any indication, it may be okay.

Thats really good to know, I was pretty concerned with the large amount of rain in short time aswell as the white combine. Couple more weeks will really show how they handled the storms

[aulrich]

I got real wet around Calgary but did that same rain continue as you moved east?

would they try and re-nest?

[Pudelpointer]

Had the hairy beasts out for a walk this morning. Parker locked up about 150 yards out in a pasture along the canal. After a couple minutes, I put Kiva on a lead and got my wife to hold her, and hopped the fence. Parker broke as I got about 35 yards from him, and about 8 or 9 little huns passed right back over/around me as the two parents flew low and slow the other direction to distract the dog (it worked).

Nice to see some young ones around.

[Pudelpointer]

Originally Posted by aulrich

I got real wet around Calgary but did that same rain continue as you moved east?

would they try and re-nest?

I think it depends on how cold it gets during/after the rain. We have had quite a bit this year, but it has always stayed warm and then been dry and warm within a day or two.

If they lose their nest, then yes, many will re-nest; though second clutches have an overall fewer number of chicks, as well as a lower survival to adulthood rate.

[Mr Brown]

Originally Posted by Pudelpointer

I think it depends on how cold it gets during/after the rain. We have had quite a bit this year, but it has always stayed warm and then been dry and warm within a day or two.

If they lose their nest, then yes, many will re-nest; though second clutches have an overall fewer number of chicks, as well as a lower survival to adulthood rate.

Thanks a lot Pudelpointer for the update... I really hope that there will not be any other surprise with the weather this summer.

The number of birds need to recover from the last few bad years and hope that will happen this year.

Out of a curiosity, how big are the chicks now? I assume that they are not ready to fly yet...

Unfortunately I live Toronto and there is not huns here

Thanks again!

[Pudelpointer]

Originally Posted by Mr Brown

Thanks a lot Pudelpointer for the update... I really hope that there will not be any other surprise with the weather this summer.

The number of birds need to recover from the last few bad years and hope that will happen this year.

Out of a curiosity, how big are the chicks now? I assume that they are not ready to fly yet...

Unfortunately I live Toronto and there is not huns here

Thanks again!

Most gallinaceous (chicken like) birds are able to fly within a few days of hatching. The Hun chicks I saw yesterday shot up like Huns do, all at once like a grenade going off, and flew 150 yards or so. They were just tiny, maybe 2 weeks old, about 1/2-2/3 the size of a starling.

I have seen pheasant, ruffed grouse, sharptail grouse and blue grouse chicks that could fly with varying degrees of strength, likely related to their age, but they could all fly. It is an adaptation to nesting on the ground.

[Pudelpointer]

Mr. Brown,

Are you hunting in AB this year (sounds like it), if so, what area?

The thing with Alberta is we have extremely diverse and scattered weather events - especially hail and snow. While the torrential rains that caused the flooding was most intense in the far west, there have been some areas that experienced both cooler temperatures and more sustained wet (neither is good for chick survival). Hail events can also significantly impact upland bird populations (if you are the same size as the hail stone that just hit you, it usually doesn't work out so well).

If you post where you are planning to hunt, maybe someone can give you a better idea of the bird numbers in that area.

The area I mentioned earlier is between Magrath and Raymond.

[Mr Brown]

I will be hunting around Fort Macleod looks like.... or better, rent a motel room there and drive around all the directions...

My dad and my uncle (From Italy) will meet me in Calgary and then we will hunt for a week... just can't wait to let my dogs out on those fields!

I love south west Alberta at the point that everyday I try to convince my wife to move there unfortunately without success

I was lucky enough to run early spring one of my dog just south of Calgary and this is a bad quality video if you want to take a look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COi-39Nw00k
He is an English Setter (European Style).

[RoscoeT]

here's a clutch I saw Friday morning.

[dfrobert]

^^^

Nice find man. Thats got to be a second attempt at nesting. Those chicks will be small come upland opening day.

[H380]

Seeing lots of chicks [huns and pheasants] when I'm cutting hay , try to miss them but the seagulls are making short work of them .

[h&t]

Originally Posted by Mr Brown

I was lucky enough to run early spring one of my dog just south of Calgary and this is a bad quality video if you want to take a look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COi-39Nw00k
He is an English Setter (European Style).

cool looking setter, how old?
did you import or get it from someone in ON?

[wwbirds]

We were trying to train dogs near a slough yesterday and some ducklings that looked to be only 2-3 days old kept following the two children around.
Made for very interesting dog training.

The little girl returned one little guy to the slough twice and 5 minutes later he was 50 feet from water following her across the grass again.

Mid July is late for newly hatched ducklings

[hal53]

Originally Posted by wwbirds

We were trying to train dogs near a slough yesterday and some ducklings that looked to be only 2-3 days old kept following the two children around.
Made for very interesting dog training.

The little girl returned one little guy to the slough twice and 5 minutes later he was 50 feet from water following her across the grass again.

Mid July is late for newly hatched ducklings

second hatch???....saw a mom and dad Canada's the other day with 5 little ones , that weren't much over a week or two old. Pretty wet, yucky spring, maybe they lost some???...sorry to the OP for the derail. On the bright side, I have never seen so many Sharp Tails around as last winter, good job on the coyotes guys!!!

[Mr Brown]

Originally Posted by RoscoeT

here's a clutch I saw Friday morning.

Wwow thank you for sharing!

[Mr Brown]

Thank you! I brought the mother and father from Italy and this is the 3 years old son.Now I just brought home the nephew 3 months old... Very good looking puppy! If is big enough at 6 month I will take him on my trip..

[whitetail Junkie]

Wow I counted 14 eggs! How many eggs do pheasant lay on average?

[Mr Brown]

Hi H380, those birds eat the chicks? Are the number of seagull incrising by any chance?

[RoscoeT]

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

Wow I counted 14 eggs! How many eggs do pheasant lay on average?

That's actually a Gray Partridge (Hun) nest. According to my data it's smaller than average.

Clutch size can range up to 22 eggs, and averages 16 to 18.
Source: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/G...ge/lifehistory

[rhuntley12]

Haven't seen any huns around the yard this year. Don't usually hunt them but still usually see lots in the summer.

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by RoscoeT

That's actually a Gray Partridge (Hun) nest. According to my data it's smaller than average.

Clutch size can range up to 22 eggs, and averages 16 to 18.
Source: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/G...ge/lifehistory

Wow 22 eggs!!! Out of such a small bird to boot....I always thought flocks of 20 plus were 2 family groups,that joined up.

I saw one flock of huns last week and the little ones were already flying...its funny cause they were only 1\4 the size as the adult.