Country Boy's World

I would like to begin this post with a quote,"I would never have been president if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota," wrote Theodore Roosevelt.  I think this is a marvelous quote because I can honestly say that I have become a better person this summer because of my experiences in ND as well.  And what makes this quote appealing to me is that T.R. is one of my role models. Amongst a long list, his conservation initiatives and of course his spirit for hunting are my primary reasons for having a great admiration for this man.  One of my favorite pictures that hangs in my parents' home, besides a large Walter Anderson watercolor, is one of T.R. and his bear hunting party in the MS Delta.  I feel an overwhelming sense of pride whenever I look at this picture because it reminds me of the rich history of the place in which I call home.


This week has been quite interesting.  In fact, I don't think I've had an uneventful week since I arrived the second week of May.  Pop-up rain showers (more like rain soakings) always manage to keep me on my toes.  You would think that being able to see unobstructed across the prairies would allow ample time for a savvy youth to scramble to shelter but the only problem is, you're in an open prairie.....

The good news is that wildflowers are blooming in an abundance! I have never before seen such a site.

Except for the many summers I spent in North Carolina on Gran's farm and the beautiful gardens that they planted.

We enjoyed a wonderful church service this morning and afterwards, were accompanied by many members of our church family to eat lunch at The Olive Garden.  It has truly been a blessing to see God at work and how much the members of our church genuinely desire to get to know us.  We have been handed business cards, phone numbers for meals, and job advertisements by these caring people.  The greatest thing is how they have incorporated us in to their church family.  There is seldom a Sunday service to go by in which "the Ducks Unlimited crew" doesn't receive a shout-out.  This morning, before we sang All Creatures of Our God and King, the hymn director pointed out that he was actually quite envious of our group and the fact that we spend all day outside in creation. 

We have reached the peak of the nesting season so now begins a gradual recession.  The winter wheat is beginning to turn and is expected to be harvested starting around July 20th.  The next couple of weeks will be spent frantically trying to squeeze in our third and final nest searches in the wheat before it is combined. 

Blue-wing teal ducklings!

Getting this picture required persistence, patience, and of course Jordan's skillful picture taking ability.

We easily spend 8 out of a 14 hour day on these ATVs (we had to learn to get over being sore)

Modern day cowboys and the steel horses we ride ;)

Excuse me, a what?

Thanks for reading!

www.ducks.org

Small Town Big Time

Travis Tritt, recorded a song titled,"I'm Gonna Be Somebody" and well, needless to say, I am well on my way after this past week. ;)  My boss told me at the beginning of the summer that DU TV was interested in filming her crews and getting the scoop on the research she is conducting.  I was thrilled to hear this news but wasn't sure it would ever come to fruition, until two weeks ago when I learned the film crew was scheduled to arrive on June 12. You can imagine the excitement I felt knowing there might be a possibility that I would be on The Outdoor Channel.  I can remember back to earlier years and the countless hours I spent sprawled on the futon in "The Delta Room" becoming engrossed with footage captured by The Outdoor Channel camera men.  Back then, I only dreamed of seeing my face on a national TV show, today, it's a reality.

 Tuesday night, Mike Checkett, one of the hosts of DU TV treated both crews to supper in Minot, in order to discuss what the film crew was hoping to capture over the next two days.  We all enjoyed a delicious meal and after hearing what they had planned, we went home eagerly awaiting the next morning.

Wednesday, I performed the nest-checks for my crew while the camera men accompanied them as they drug a wheat field not too far from our house.  So I was not filmed for the first time until Thursday morning, and what an experience that was!  The film crew shot an opening scene of us gathered around the trucks discussing what was on the agenda for the day and then our morning departure.  Later that afternoon they caught up with us again to film us conducting nest checks.  (They had spent the morning filming "the refuge crew" nest search one of their fields.) After they had filmed us performing several nest checks, they brought us back to the trucks in order to interview each one of us. 

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the DU TV hosts, the camera men, and getting to witness first-hand just what it takes film a show for television.  It was an experience I will not soon forget.

Mike Checkett and Huntley Ritter (DU Hosts)

Jordan's interview

Candling eggs during a nest check

My interview!

 Since today is Father's Day, I have a few wildlife/landscape shots that I'm sure my dad will appreciate!

Upland sand piper

This Is My Father's World

Ring-necked pheasant

They made a run for it but got caught!

Mallard hen and her brood

Happy Father's Day Ted Leininger

The show should be episode 13 and it will air in September and again in December.  It will also be posted on the DU website and on their DVD.

Thanks for reading!

http://www.ducks.org/

I'm No Stranger To The Rain

Well, I've done it again, it's been way too long since I've last updated my blog so with apologies out of the way, I will brief you on what's been happening since you've last read.  I have been wet, I have been hot, I have been wind blown, and I have experienced mother ducks wishing I was a little bit smaller so that they could enact a wrath on me fitting to come from a wild animal. 

One could describe the weather in North Dakota as mildly unpredictable, and if they did I would laugh at them until my belly started to ache! Jordan and I were sitting in the truck this morning, waiting for a thunderstorm to literally blow over, when a local rancher pulls beside us wanting to talk.  With lightening streaking across the open prairies and thunder bellowing in the background, Jordan hesitantly rolled down the window to see what this fellow wanted.  As I looked through the driver-side window I had flashbacks of being back in the South.  This man was wearing a camo cap, had a shotgun and a rifle hanging on his back glass, and he was accompanied by a black lab riding in the passenger's seat.  The man leaned out his window and laughed as he told us we had picked a good day to try to check nests.  We didn't really agree with him but decided it would be a poor decision to disagree with a man carrying guns.  Jordan and I looked at each other for a second and then I took my cue. (Justin calls me the "speaker" of the group. If we meet new people somewhere the guys all look at me to give whoever the unfortunate person is background information on who we are and where we are from.)  After a quick second I could only come up with a simple question, "What's the deal with the weather?"  A wide grin spread across this local man's scruffy face as he replied," If you don't like North Dakota's weather, wait 5 minutes."  As the man drove off I began thinking about how peculiar but true his last statement was.  I thought back to earlier in the week to how drastically the weather had changed throughout the day and how I was beginning to bring an assortment of clothing in the truck no matter what the Weather Channel said.

A picture from this morning before "Thunderstruck"

Monday, Jordan and I were sitting on our four-wheelers enjoying our Clif Bars and re hydrating for a bit when he looks over at me and says, "Wouldn't it have been awesome to have lived back in the day?" I said,"You mean with indians running wild and large carnivores roaming untamed America?" He said," Yea, but I would have been friends with the indians and would have got them to teach me all of their survival tricks.  I think it would have been incredible to have traveled through wilderness that no other eyes had seen yet.  Being in a place as remarkable as this makes me think about those sort of things." I said,"That would be great and I'd be down as long as I still got to tote white boy fire power.  No use in shooting at something with a stick and string when you can hit it at 300 yards with a lead bullet!" Jordan chuckled and just shook his head.



While the hens sit on their nests for the majority of the day, the drakes enjoy a cool swim, all of the aquatic plants and invertebrates they can eat, and the warm sun shine.

Mallard drake. (They winter in the Peabody hotel.)
 http://www.peabodymemphis.com/peabody-ducks/

Northern pintail drakes and mallard drakes.

In a place where there aren't many trees there are plenty of deer.
The tall grasses offer all of the cover these white-tails need.

 Northern pintail hen sitting on her nest in the winter wheat.

Dedication to a nest is not always the best when it comes to predators.

Jack rabbit

Pheasant

Thanks for reading!

http://www.ducks.org/