Friday, March 24, 2006

Ready for wood ducks I finally cleaned out my wood duck nest box yesterday and found evidence of a successful hatch, probably 8 eggs. Raccoons (I'm assuming) had also chewed the opening quite a bit, enlarging it enough for a small coon to possibly get inside the box. This is the last year for this box, which is beginning to show its age, but hey, the ducks seem to like it... I need to put up a new one on a steel pipe, the way Rick Persson does his. For now, I just refilled it with cedar shavings and put the top back on it. Spent the day pruning fruit trees and chipping up the branches for mulch around the base of the trees. I still have several huge piles of branches to chip up to put on the paths. It's a lot cheaper than buying commercial bark, although it is hard work. Heard some sandhill cranes again today. Haven't heard or seen a wood duck yet. Nor have I heard any gobbling. The toms should be starting any day now, if they haven't already. I'll be guiding another first-time hunter in the Learn-To-Hunt program April 8, then hunting NY in early May and WI in mid-May. Can't wait for turkey season now that spring is here. Might go steelheading tomorrow if the sun pops out in the afternoon. Judy Nugent taped a steelhead segment for Outdoor Wisconsin today with John Martineer on the Sheboygan River at Kohler. They hooked and lost three fish, but never saw any. They were deep, she said, and the water temp was 39 degrees - a bit too cold yet for good action. I'll be presenting seminars on turkey hunting and panfishing at the UW-Washington County Science and Art Fair, April 9, at the UW-WC campus. Ccheck out the lnk for details on these and 23 other free seminars going on that afternoon. Later... 7:02:22 PM    comment []