Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… The morning was somewhere in the twenty degree range with frost. I hoped the gobblers would feel invigorated with the cold and gobble their heads off. I guess the birds thought otherwise. I heard two gobblers with only 5 gobbles. I saw only one hen working feeding in a field.
Approximately 7:00 the winds began to blow so I worked, low, along the hillside where I had last heard the one gobbler that has been eluding me these many mornings.
I spent some time sketching details of mayapple blossoms for a painting I am working on. (Don’t tell anyone, but, I managed a few moments of sleep too.)
Other sightings of the morning were 3 deer, a mockingbird and a squirrel. I watched a wood duck zip across the sky too.
The Mayapples that were low in the valley took a major hit from the frost this morning and looked wilted and dark green. A gobbler was roosting in the same tree again this morning as Friday except another hunter moved in on me in spite of me flashing my light in his direction. I did the kindly thing by giving him the chance at this bird and I moved into the back fields. I did see a gobbler around 9:00 come out into the field. I set up above it and called for an hour but he never made an appearance. My brother in law called in a bird this morning for his friend. It went 18.5 lbs. with a 9.5 in beard… or was that 9.5 lbs. with an 18.5 inch beard? I need to start listening more closely! Babysitting tomorrow but I’ll be back on Weds. Birds this morning didn’t call much after fly down. The scarlet tanagers are really low in the canopy right now and provide interesting viewing. Dana