The home sharptails

[Bob Brown]

I thought I would try to post a few photos I took from inside my house this morning of a flock of sharptails. My neighbor had harvested a field of canola across the road and piled the seed at the field edge about 50 yard from my place. After they picked up the seed there must have been a lot left on the ground. There have been as many as 44 at a time digging in the snow to reach it. I scraped the snow off an area in my yard and driveway to try to keep them from going on the gravel road to get the grit. I think more get hit by vehicles than shot by hunters around here. After a thaw and freeze the ice covering the snow over the canola was too much for them to reach the ground. It took them several days to realize the sunflower seeds I put out for the snow buntings was edible.
When I moved into this house 15 years ago there was a lek outside my bedroom window where they would do their mating dances and chase each other around. I hope they get back to using that spot.