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A mother’s love by Dr. Dale Rollins "A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts." -- Washington Irving Mother's Day is just around the corner. Increasingly with age, the second Sunday in May finds me pining about how devoted mothers are to their children. My own mother Joy, who lives in Hollis, Oklahoma, will be 81 years old this July. And I turned 55 this past month. There wasn't a day in that half century when I ever questioned her love of, or support of, me and my three siblings. At just over 100 pounds, she would fight the fires of hell with a thimbleful of water in our defense. I suspect yours would too. But humans aren't the only ones who enjoy such maternal vigilance and devotion. Quail have their moments too.
In June, 2000, Angelo State University graduate student Bobby Buntyn was Most of them were fine. But three hens drowned. Homing in on the radio beacon, Buntyn found one of them buried under ten inches of silt. That poses an interesting question: why should a quail, which is very capable of flight, ever drown? As it turns out, all three of those hens had a brood of young chicks. What happened next is admittedly romantic speculation on my part, so bear with me. The hen began making soft peeping whistles to gather her brood under her arched wings. Chicks the size of bumblebees scurried to her side and found refuge under her water-resistant feathers. The chicks were still a week away from being able to fly, and the floodwaters continued to rise. The hen could have abandoned her brood and flew or ran to higher ground. Self preservation before race preservation, right? But she squatted right there, huddled with her chicks, and went down with the ship. Pretty incredible when you think about it.
Animals are often classified as either "r-selected" or "K-selected" species. The r-selected species ("r" is an abbreviation for "biotic potential" or how quickly that species reproduces) include smaller critters like rodents, rabbits, and quail that attempt to overcome high mortality with high reproduction. "K-selected" species ("K" is an abbreviation for "carrying capacity") have lower reproductive rates, but enjoy more parental care (hence higher survival). One of the saddest transitions that we humans face is watching our K-selected tendencies erode into an r-selected strategy. I offer just about any third world country as an example. I'm glad that K-selection ruled when I was growing up. If your mother would have stayed by your side while the flood raged, or flailed away at your respective devils, why not give her a call thanking her for her K-selection strategy. Or share this column with her. Park Cities Quail Park Cities Quail (www.parkcitiesquail.org) held its fourth annual banquet and fund raiser on March 11 at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas. On April 15, when we often think (er, bemoan!) “giving back”, the PCQ had a check presentation, making a donation of $326,000 to the RPQRR. PCQ has literally been the economic wind under the RPQRR’s wings over the past three years. The PCQ has donated right at $1.3 million to fund the RPQRR’s annual operating budget. The RPQRR is both grateful, and humbled, to be the recipient of their generosity. For more information about PCQ, see their website at www.parkcitiesquail.org. Click Image below for full screen view.
Cadence call (Conservation cadences from the Bobwhite Brigade)
Spring Call Counts by Lloyd LaCoste Habitat conditions could not be better for the 2010 nesting season. But how is your breeding capital? Do you have adequate quail to capitalize on this habitat bonanza? Now is a great time to find out, and it's not rocket science. We are gearing up to start our spring call counts for 2010-we'll start around May 15th. We have a total of 25 "mile markers" situated across the ranch which we use as listening stations. Our west transect has 13 mile markers, and our east transect has 12 mile markers. Interns will conduct call count surveys twice a week, usually on Tuesday and Thursday, beginning at sunrise. The interns will listen at each mile marker for 5 minutes and record the location of each rooster making its "bob-white" or "poor-bob-white" song, as well as the total number of calls heard at each location during the 5-minute listening time. Interns will also note any blue (scaled) quail making their "whock" calls and the total number of calls heard. Then they will proceed to the next listening station. Each of the three interns will listen at 8 or 9 mile markers when they conduct spring call counts. Including travel time, it takes about 90 minutes to conduct a count. A number of conditions can interfere with the ability to conduct call counts. Therefore we do not conduct call counts during rain events, or if the wind speed exceeds 10 miles/hour. When you conduct such counts, you get an appreciation for how far a truck going down the highway can impact your ability to hear quail. Our spring call counts for 2008 averaged 4.1 roosters/stop and 32.7 calls/stop. In 2009 we averaged 4.4 roosters/stop and 39.9 calls/stop. In 2008 mile marker 11 on our east transect had the greatest number of roosters averaging 5.6 roosters, and mile marker 8 on our east transect had the lowest number of roosters averaging 2.1 roosters. In 2009 mile marker 7 on our west transect had the greatest number of roosters averaging 5.7 roosters, and mile marker 0 on our west transect had the lowest number of roosters averaging 2.3 roosters. (Refer to graph to see how all the stations compared over the last two years, click to see full size.)
Spring call counts can help you determine the amount of breeding capital you have, and may also be used as an index of your ranch's quail trends over time. We hope you will consider partnering with us in "Operation Pulse" and get out there and conduct call counts on your land. See below for additional information on Operation Pulse. And remember the old adage "the best fertilizer is the footprint of the farmer." Get involved with quail happenings on your property. Operation Pulse by Dr. Dale Rollins Operation Pulse is an attempt to document the presence and relative abundance of quail across Texas. It's not rocket science. You, and several buddies, drive along your property (or less-traveled county roads) and stop at one-mile intervals. You step outside the vehicle and listen for the number of different bobwhites heard whistling during a five-minute period. Then you move on to the next stop, until you've made a minimum of six stops. Counts should be conducted during the last half of May, which is about the peak date for calling across most of Texas. More details on protocols and data sheets are available at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch's website (www.quailresearch.org). When analyzing whistle counts, I think in multiples of "3." If your average count finds less than 3 whistling cocks per stop, you're in the lower quartile; six cocks would be an average property; nine would be above average, and 12 would be exceptional. Now, anytime your counts exceed about 10 cocks calling, you'll be hard-pressed to differentiate among them-but that's a great problem to have!
Sometimes it's easier to count the total number of whistles heard and not An El Nino weather pattern has blessed most of Texas' quail range with ideal fall-winter moisture, and a resulting green landscape of winter weeds which generally bode well for quail nesting. But the weak link in the quail equation may be the number of breeding birds available. Operation Pulse will be a good way to estimate one's breeding capital. Participants are encouraged to report their data to me via e-mail so we can summarize trends from across the state. Results will be posted at our website on a county-basis, so your data will remain anonymous. Operation Pulse is sponsored by Texas AgriLIFE Extension Service's Quail Decline Initiative, Park Cities Quail, Bobwhite Brigade, QuailMasters, Texas Wildlife Association, Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch, Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas Audubon and other conservation partners . The perfect count team would involve a representative of all of the above, plus interested landowners. Remember that younger ears will likely yield higher counts than those dulled by repeated shotgun blasts and blaring dog whistles. In the News Quail Coalition, Inc. succeeds Quail Unlimited in Texas The "implosion" of Quail Unlimited last October left a void for quail enthusiasts, especially In Texas. But like the mythical Phoenix, new life has arisen from the ashes. A new organization for quail hunters in Texas, i.e., Quail Coalition, Inc. has fledged. The new organization is 100% volunteer driven, and all proceeds generated at their banquets stays in Texas to support Texas projects. QC's mission is "To sustain and restore huntable wild quail populations, to encourage and educate interested youth and to celebrate our quail hunting heritage in this region." For more information, see www.quailcoalition.org. Desert QuailMasters take wing in Midland Coveys are typically larger in desert quails, and that trait has carried over into their students as well. A total of 28 budding Desert QuailMasters “hatched” this past weekend. True to their Odontophoridae heritage, they are indeed a precocial bunch. The students, who hail from 6 states, will meet three more times over the next five months. During their odyssey, they will visit top quail-producing regions for blues, Gambel’s, and Montezuma quails. Are you a fan of RPQRR or watching us Tweet? Catch us on Facebook . . .We're up to 280 fans and growing; check us out and forward onto your hunting buddies. Go to www.facebook.com/RPQRR or follow us on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/rpqrr. I have tasked my staff with providing lastest news and happens as they happen each week. No Facebook or Twitter account is required to access these daily posts. Also check out other resources @ www.quailresearch.org Plant of the Month American basketflower (Centaurea americana)
As a group, thistles don't win much admiration. Some (e.g., musk thistle) |
May 2010 Vol 2. No. 5
Q: We have seen something new to us, and wonder if you’ve observed similar behavior. As we're running our "cactus crusher" (roller chopper type device with a sprayer attached to it). We’re seeing raccoons bailing out of these very large stands of prickly pear just as we’re coming on top of them with the dozer. These raccoons are not eating pear apples or just around the pear, but are burrowed up in them. Have ya'll seen this anywhere else? We're accustomed to seeing coons near creeks, water, etc. But in the recent years they are everywhere, and as you know, in large numbers. Apparently, they're making "lodges" out of the large pear clumps for daytime relaxation. – HH A: “Improvise, adapt, overcome.” Raccoons are adaptable, opportunistic generalists, and as you note these are the best of times for raccoons - our penchant for feeding deer and lack of a fur market help ensure that! My dogs have pointed raccoons in pear patches before, much to my chagrin (but to the delight of my buddies). We fitted eight raccoons with GPS-telemetry collars during the summer of 2009 at RPQRR, and found them inhabiting some odd habitats namely the old cotton gin at Hobbs, and a neighbor’s junk pit. While they might prefer a hollowed-out bull mesquite, any port in a storm I reckon. Several years ago while on a “Quail Appreciation Day” in Coleman Co., the landowner admired some big brushpiles of dozed mesquite (some the size of your house). When he made a comment to the effect of “we left all the brushpiles for quail . . . you agree with that don’t you Dr. Rollins?” Uh, er, not really . . . and winced as I reckoned I’d insulted the landowner by my disagreement. I recommend burning such piles, as I believe they service more raccoons, skunks, and snakes than quail. Six months later I saw the landowner and he told me of what enjoyment he’d had over the past several months. “Doing what?” I asked. “Burning those piles and shooting those raccoons when they flushed.” He estimated there was a raccoon for about every third brushpile . . . especially those located near a pond. Think about that the next time you fly over west Texas and the sun shines off the thousands of farm ponds.
From time to time, a weird looking quail shows up in the harvest. Occasionally I see pics of “black-throated” bobwhites. Subscriber R. Siler from North Carolina hunts in KS and has harvested two of the oddly-marked birds. [Click here] to view one I shot years ago in Concho County, TX. The actual black-throated bobwhite (Colinus nigrogularis) occupies the Yucatan region of Mexico [Click Here] for additional info on this species, and [Click Here] for some video clips. If you have pictures of weird quail, and don’t mind sharing them, please send them to me drollins@ag.tamu.edu.
What kind of “UTV” do you recommend (if any) for quail hunting? To participate, [Click Here].
Since 2006 we’ve been monitoring scaled quail abundance on a handful of leases owned by the University of Texas – West Texas Operations (i.e., “University Lands”). Angelo State University graduate student Chris Snow did the first two year’s monitoring for his Master’s thesis; since that time Barrett Koennecke here at RPQRR has continued the research. We’re conducting spring cock call counts, dummy nest surveys, roadside counts and helicopter counts to see if any predict 2 response variables: covey flush rate and age ratios (i.e., percent juveniles in the bag). Due to low numbers in 2008 and 2009 hunting seasons, we’ve collected few data on the hunting success. Given current habitat conditions, blues should fare better this year. Hopefully they will, and we’ll see how our indices track an increasing population. For more information, contact Barrett bakoennecke@ag.tamu.edu.
45. The number of burns conducted on RPQRR since June 2009.
That’s “meanwhile back at the ranch.” May is a busy month for us. We’re gearing up for whistle counts, training summer interns, looking for quail nests, and looking forward to involving the Dallas Zoo in a study of Texas horned lizards (“horny toads”). This past month we sprayed just over 500 acres with different herbicides aimed at controlling pricklypear. We’ll begin conducting various vegetation inventories to monitor cacti mortality, and various “collateral damage”, i.e., forb shock and response of desirable woody plants.
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following radio-collared scaled quail on the Sherman Hammond Ranch southwest of Ft. Stockton. A summer downpour a few miles up the watershed sent a wall of water through the west end of the ranch. The next morning Buntyn took his radio telemetry equipment to see how his radio-collared quail had fared.
I can make a whistle that will make quail "attack." The plaintive whistle imitates a chick in distress. It's pretty impressive to see a pair (often the entire covey) coming towards the pickup truck in a dead run with their wings spread out trying to look intimidating to what they perceive as something trying to abduct a chick. I've had them actually fly up on the hood of the pickup. It takes a lot of moxie for a six-ounce quail to charge a two-ton truck.
even try to differentiate among various roosters. Hearing a whistle about every ten seconds would be an average count. Hearing more than 100 bobwhite whistles (one every three seconds) in a five-minute period is excellent.
are literally noxious plants; most have sharp awns. But the thistles have a demur, awnless cousin, the American basketflower that deserves better than to be called a thistle. Also known as star thistle and shaving brush, the flower of 
"bar ditch test of forage palatability" (i.e., if you see more of a plant in the "bar ditch" than in the adjoining pasture) suggests it's palatable to livestock.