Peacock and Yamadori Hunting

[moke]

Went out yamadori hunting today in the hills, it was nice to get out and get some fresh air and just get away from the craziness in the world. I took my wheeler and headed up the mountain. I road for several miles above my home about 9500’ elevation. I don’t think the weather could have been any better for yamadori hunting, it was a little cool and had rained recently but not enough to make the roads a muddy mess. There was an area that caught my eye, I started seeing lots of pinyon and juniper so I decided to park the wheeler and hike a bit. I left the road and about 75’ from the road I ran into this guy.

A peacock in the high desert mountains of Utah!!!
Definitely caught me off guard I had my eyes on the watch out for mountain lions, and then bam!! the bright blue of this peacock. I walked closer and discovered there were six all together 2 males and 4 females. It looked like they had been living in this area for a bit lots of bedding spots in the trees.


I hiked around looking at trees and found one within 50” of the peacocks. It’s a Utah Juniper with some nice movement and lots of branch choices.


I liked the bend in the apex on this one, It was actually an easier one to collect. I was able to get a very nice root ball I have no doubts this tree will thrive when I get it in some pumice and give it a couple of years to get strong.
Turned out to be a great day, I scored a nice tree collected a few nice peacock feathers for tying flies and was able to escape the madness of the world.
We had an earthquake last Wednesday on top of this Corvid19 shit, so this day out was very much enjoyed break.
I will throw up some more pics of the tree later.

 

[moke]

Nice amount of fine roots.


Here it is in its new home for the next few years. I plan on grafting shimpaku foliage onto it. For the next couple of years it gets to recoup.

 

[Mayank]

Nice amount of fine roots.
View attachment 290944

Here it is in its new home for the next few years. I plan on grafting shimpaku foliage onto it. For the next couple of years it gets to recoup.

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That's crazy. Peafowl in Utah! Must've escaped from somewhere and started procreating? I didn't know they could tolerate the cold temps!

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I've seen a flock of wild peafowl near Monticello, VA, which I think is zone 7, but never in colder areas. Who knew? Cool. One invasive species that if I don't have to listen to them at night, I don't mind seeing more of. I do get tired of their night time mating calls. I used to rent a house less than a block away from a zoo. The noisiest animal in the zoo were the peafowl. From late winter to middle of summer, all night long. Crowned cranes were pretty noisy too.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I like the juniper too, nice find.

 

[Adair M]

Lol!!!

I once owned some peafowl. A pair. I say, “owned”. They came with the farm. They roamed the neighborhood.

There was a paddock between the house and the barn, and the peacock and the horses would try to exert their dominance over each other to control the territory. Fun to watch!

 

[moke]

I've seen a flock of wild peafowl near Monticello, VA, which I think is zone 7, but never in colder areas. Who knew? Cool. One invasive species that if I don't have to listen to them at night, I don't mind seeing more of. I do get tired of their night time mating calls. I used to rent a house less than a block away from a zoo. The noisiest animal in the zoo were the peafowl. From late winter to middle of summer, all night long. Crowned cranes were pretty noisy too.

I believe that’s most likely the reason they are up high on a mountain, somebody bought them and soon realized what the hell have I done!!! I can’t see them surviving long up there they will be dinner soon, there are many predators in that area. I’m thinking they were dropped off up there somewhat recently, I don’t think they could survive a winter in the mountains due to the snow-20F and predators. I’ll keep an eye on them though and see how they fare.

 

[amatbrewer]

View attachment 290771

That peacock’s nabari is rather spindly for such a large trunk, but the ramification of the foliage is nice. You should consider air layering it.
[sorry it is a bit crazy around here and I am looking for humor wherever I can find it]

 

[moke]

That peacock’s nabari is rather spindly for such a large trunk, but the ramification of the foliage is nice. You should consider air layering it.
[sorry it is a bit crazy around here and I am looking for humor wherever I can find it]

I’ll take a little humor as well, we had an 5.7 earthquake last week while I was at work, I work at a copper smelter and it’s definitely not a place you want to experience a quake due to the molten metal sloshing about and many steam boilers an acid plant. It was a crazy week on top of all this covid19 shit. That’s why I headed to the mountains to clear my head.

 

[River's Edge]

Went out yamadori hunting today in the hills, it was nice to get out and get some fresh air and just get away from the craziness in the world. I took my wheeler and headed up the mountain. I road for several miles above my home about 9500’ elevation. I don’t think the weather could have been any better for yamadori hunting, it was a little cool and had rained recently but not enough to make the roads a muddy mess. There was an area that caught my eye, I started seeing lots of pinyon and juniper so I decided to park the wheeler and hike a bit. I left the road and about 75’ from the road I ran into this guy.
View attachment 290770
A peacock in the high desert mountains of Utah!!!
Definitely caught me off guard I had my eyes on the watch out for mountain lions, and then bam!! the bright blue of this peacock. I walked closer and discovered there were six all together 2 males and 4 females. It looked like they had been living in this area for a bit lots of bedding spots in the trees.
View attachment 290771
View attachment 290772
I hiked around looking at trees and found one within 50” of the peacocks. It’s a Utah Juniper with some nice movement and lots of branch choices.
View attachment 290773
View attachment 290774
I liked the bend in the apex on this one, It was actually an easier one to collect. I was able to get a very nice root ball I have no doubts this tree will thrive when I get it in some pumice and give it a couple of years to get strong.
Turned out to be a great day, I scored a nice tree collected a few nice peacock feathers for tying flies and was able to escape the madness of the world.
We had an earthquake last Wednesday on top of this Corvid19 shit, so this day out was very much enjoyed break.
I will throw up some more pics of the tree later.

Great fly tying material! Excellent colours for Salmon fly's, and also Steel Head.
And a nice little juniper to boot! Well done!

 

[substratum]

It is always cool to see the unexpected in the wild.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

According to Virginia locals to that flock of peafowl, they had been in the area as a self sustaining flock for over 40 years. And that area is in the Virginia leg of the Blue Ridge Mountains area, loaded with coyotes and other predators. So it would not surprise me if the flock in Utah was self sustaining. Then again, winter is a big issue. They do wander, I know from a friend in Wisconsin with peafowl, that they can range several miles in their daily wandering. I was surprised to see how strong a fliers they were. Her peacock & peahens would often perch in the tops of the trees around her farmhouse. Especially at night, they perch high in trees. If there is anyone within 10 miles leaving food out for them in winter, I would not be surprised if they did survive winters. The only way to know for sure is to keep coming back every spring, and see if they are still in the area. Good excuse for a return trip next year.