Saturday Evening, April 25
It was one of our first times out of the house to see any of our children since this virus started. Chris’ sister-in-law Amy and brother, Dave, had a pig stomach to bake (sausage and potatoes stuffed in the stomach) and wanted to share it with them and their mother, Lois.
They were so kind to invite us to the meal and a time around a campfire. It felt safe, and the meal was delicious.
Following the meal Jeff shared this picture of a bird he saw behind their meadow – I think it was that afternoon – while mowing grass. He took the picture with his cell phone.
None of us had ever seen one, so Amy messaged a friend who is an avid birder. She immediately recognized it as a Chukar. She lives a few minutes away from Jeff and Chris and asked if she could go to the fence row where he had seen it.
Jeff and I walked with her – an area of their farm where I had never been. This picture is taken with my back to the fence row – looking toward their meadow.
Some of Jeff and Chris’ cattle.
We spend a lot of time walking the fence row – looking on the ground and into low branches. The other lady (I don’t remember her name) thought she heard it a few times, but we never did locate it.
A few facts about the Chukar Partridge from the Internet: On our continent, the species has fared best in arid, rocky regions of the western U.S. and southwestern Canada.
It has been introduced into Pennsylvania, but has not fared nearly so well here and is rare in the wild. Nearly any chukar you see in Pennsylvania is almost certainly a bird that has been released or escaped from a game farm.
The species is generally considered to be one of the easiest gamebirds to raise in captivity, and it is being raised on many game farms and backyards across Pennsylvania.
Chukar is the national bird of Pakistan, whose name has been derived from the Sanskrit word ‘chakur’.
The nests of this bird species are often located on slopes with rocky outcrops, above streams. These birds line their nests with leaves and feathers and camouflage them under shrubs or among rocks.
This was also the evening we met our new great grandson, Bennett, when Donovan and Diane stopped in for just a few minutes so we and great grandma Lois could meet him.