Can't say I know a whole lot about quail. I mean I grew up with em literally everywhere around me when I was a kid. I used to hear em all Summer and see em in the yard. The ones I had right around the Small-Hold would come out and eat the chicken feed and run around the garden. I would water them all year long and let a couple of areas get way over grown and they would sing all Summer. Then they kinda started disappearing about 5 or 6 years ago. I figured it was all the stray cats people have been dropping off ran em out.
Today as I was splitting more wood I let the rooster and his one hen out and kept an eye on em as much as possible when I took some frequent breaks and shut the splitter off. I swore I heard a bobwhite call. I cannot ever remember hearing them in Winter before but they also have a longer single note call when the covey get's scattered to gather them again and within a few minutes I started hearing that call as well.
So I investigated and sure enough I had at least a half dozen birds running around my side yard and I am betting they got flushed over here from that tract they been working on. There was an old small field that had been fallow for years back along the drainage draw and the excavators are just now getting down there heavily. That draw was full of wild plum and small crab Apple and choked full with all types of bushes and ground cover so I am betting that is where the local quail moved to. I know I could still hear them off in the distance even this last Summer so they didn't go far.
I only have two stray cats that actually hunt anymore and one of them is going to be 10 years old this March so hopefully there won't be too much pressure on the quail if they come back. One of the old Roosters used to also chase them off every time he saw them too.
After I discovered the quail I really got to looking and in fact the bird life around the place has exploded. Both feed lots were full of Dove to a point I have never seen so many. We have always gotten a lot of Dove around here but not generally just hanging out all over like they were today. Years back I would see dozens of young dove chicks learning to fly and being pestered by the parents but it has been a long time.
When I think about it though it kinda makes sense. Unless the local wild life moves into the Small-Hold the only choice they have now are plowed fields or cow pasture or a big Ass gravel parking lot for about a half mile all around me. I am sure the foraging is good in the fields but not much cover most of the year. I never stopped letting my fence line get over grown so they should lots of good habitat.
At least I know there are some still close anyway.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!
I had a big dove freeze and fall off my porch from that Christmas cold wave that went through . When the wind blew non stop 4 days from 30 to 50 mph I knew we would lose some birds . 8 to 10 below zero and I burnt up a months wood in a week .
ReplyDeleteAnon - Ya I went through about a months worth and I was running my wood stove and my wood furnace. I think a lot of the wild birds around here hole up in one of my barns or pole buildings when it gets really cold like that.
Deletefew years ago read results of a university study saying edges of fields provide underbrush and small fruit trees and shrubs for diverse wildlife. very good to let native wildlife prosper
ReplyDeletegene logsden wrote a book where he pointed out that huge farms have much less diversity than small garden plots
think when he worked for organic gardening magazine
he wrote 'all flesh is grass'. really good book
deb - That name sounds so familiar. I know it has long been known that honey bees survive better in smaller ag areas too. I remember that from the old honey bee die off scare days. Mono-crop is just so mono :)
DeleteEven a small positive outcome for the destruction you have across the way is a good thing. It would be great if you could foster habitat for them. You already have good resources for them in place.
ReplyDeleteLeigh - I am hoping the quail will move back over to this side of the road. I know most of them went over there over the course of a few years and the cat population increased but it seems we are no long the preferred cat dumping ground we were a few years ago. It was nice to see em running around again.
DeletePP, that I recall, many quail actually need small overgrown brush to shelter in from predators. They sure are fun to watch!
ReplyDelete