New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

Pheasants galore and more.

Friday 10/01/2004

Another very busy week of work but always an experience releasing pheasants. Wednesday I had outdoor writer Bill Carney of Bow along as a volunteer and thankfully so. We had 400 pheasants to release at 7 sites in Weare, Hopkinton and Henniker. F&G staffer drove a second truck as we had so many to take. The preseason stocking is the biggest one so we put 100 birds each at the larger flood control sites in Weare and Hopkinton and fewer in Henniker and the smaller private site along the Contoocook River.

Yesterday I stocked over 120 pheasants at the new Fish and Game Deer Hill Wildlife Management Area on Pine Road in Brentwood. As it turned out another outdoor writer, Joe Shanda from Newmarket, was hiking the 350 acre tract and offered to lend a hand with that release. I generally put at least hundred birds a week at this site as it is vast and the birds are less likely to fly into a housing development when flushed a couple of times. A rare thing for Rockingham County these days. It is a glorious time of year to be out in the field as every day the colors turn more and we get to visit the same sites several times and watch the change unfold.

Last Sunday I took a couple hours away from my home project to hike with a land owners from Allenstown who though they may have seen a couple of juvenile rattle snakes on some ledges on their 100 plus acre forested tract. I try not to work on Sundays but that was the only time we could connect while it was still warm out so increasing the chances of snakes still being out. No luck on seeing anything. The site had a great southern exposure and had lots of sunny ledges so seemed like great snake habitat. It would be great to discover a population of rattle snakes as they are nearly all gone. Fewer than 20 remain in another site distant from this. I suggested they bring a camera along when hiking and take a picture next time.

The air has begun to change toward more fall like conditions and frosts are expected here in the next few days. There was apparently a little frost locally Thursday morning but little signs of it on the plants. I just heard distant shots. The first of the morning, opening day of the pheasant season. Usually there are way more by 8:00AM. Where are the hunters?