Warm weather this weekend and last offered Minnesota's wildlife -- especially its pheasants -- a reprieve from what has been a nasty winter.
Pheasants and pheasant hunters have been enjoying the results of seven consecutive mild winters: high ringneck populations and the highest harvests seen in 40 years.
But this winter, with its plentiful snow and persistent cold, spells trouble.
"I think we've lost a fair number of birds," said Kurt Haroldson, Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist. "I think we'll see a decrease in the population."
The recent warm spells should help, though, because it frees fields of snow, allowing birds to find food.
"Right now we have a lot of open spots in fields, and that definitely should help," Haroldson said Friday.
Temperatures were expected to hit the mid-40s in southwestern and western Minnesota.
"But it's been a rough winter," he said. Snow covers food, stresses birds and make them spend more time in the open searching for food, exposing them to weather and predators.