Traveled to Western Montana a couple weeks ago and saw two hens with young birds.
The first hen had done really well and had 8 half grown birds behind her on the side of the road. I got a couple photos through my windshield but had a car coming behind me so had to move on. I was yelling at the other car while looking in my rear view mirror as they blew by the birds with no concern.....idiot could have killed them all.
The second hen, only 5 or 6 miles down the road, had several poults that darted into the grass. I couldnt get a count or photos due to the car behind me. However, her poults were a lot younger than the first. Id guess that they werent much past flying into trees so maybe 4 weeks. They still had the speckled brown coloring. Made me wonder how late she was bred and if it was a second try at nesting after losing the first.
Regardless, it looked promising for this years hatch and seasons to come..
