09/10/2024
I recently shared a post concerning what we have been experiencing with the return of our native Bobwhite Quail in my area in SE Ohio.
Two devastating winters in 77 & 78 all but wiped out our quail, especially on open farm land where the heavy snows and ice lasted for nearly two months.
A few coveys somehow managed to survive where there were massive patches of Honeysuckle or dense pine plantations in areas where we often hunted grouse. A few of these coveys were also along natural gas pipelines and electrical transmissions lines, also next to wooded areas. These few coveys we called our woods coveys. While our dogs would sometimes get them pointed, we always left them alone not shooting any hoping that they would somehow reproduce and return in populations that we could hunt or at least train dogs on!
That return was slow as you might expect. It was not until about 10 years later that we started to find a few coveys on what was reclaimed strip mine land. These lands were reclaimed when in the 80's mine owners were allowed to reclaim mine land with a combination of species that included both Korean and Scerica Lespedeza! The soil was acidic and low in nutrients but both species of lespedeza seemed to thrive.
My recent post concerned the role that this one species, Scerica Lespedeza, appears to have played in this amazing return of our native quail.
Many people responded to that recent post sharing much different experiences with quail populations, especially where it involved this invasive species called Scerica Lespedeza. A few people have even suggested that they believe Scerica may have in some way contributed to the decline of the quail in their region!
The reason for this follow-up post is to clarify a few things that I believe are very important to understand.
1. Nothing is ever as simple as just one thing being solely responsible for success! That is especially true when we look at almost any form of wildlife developing healthy populations in any region of the country. It is almost always a combination of many different things, all coming together in some unique way, that result in success.
2. Wildlife, even one specific species like the northern Bobwhite Quail, is constantly evolving often to adapt to their own specific environment. This can include everything from what they eat, where they find they can successfully nest, where they can rear their broods and find enough bugs and insects during the brood rearing months, where they can escape predators, and where, if they get hit with harsh winter weather they can survive those times making it into the spring nesting season.
While in my area of SE Ohio we have become pretty convinced that this one invasive species called Scerica Lespedeza may be playing the most important and the biggest role in what we are experiencing with the exploding populations of our native quail. We also know that it is not just one species or one single thing contributing to this!
The pictures that I am sharing on this post hopefully will show what else I believe may be playing an important part of this return of our native quail.
The first picture shows you what I believe is an important combination contributing to this successful return. And yes, these pictures do show two other invasive species! One being a species we call Autumn Olive and the other species that is in white bloom when I took this picture that is called Bradford Pear.
Bradford Pear was widely planted for years as a popular ornamental in our region. Today it is banned from even being sold in Ohio. What banning this species can accomplish now is a mystery. It is everywhere and spreading rapidly. The tree produces a tiny berry in the fall which songbirds love and i believe this accounts for the spread that you are witnessing in this picture. Do quail eat this berry? My guess is they do, but I can't prove that fact. I hope to learn more about that later this fall.
Now to the Autumn Olive! Also introduced and quickly taking over many areas! I guess anything that can spread on its own without being planted fits the definition of invasive? I guess that must include everything on my farm including my oak trees, my hickory trees and my wild blackberries?
On a recent phone call with a good friend that I have lots of respect for, he shared it is only invasive if it is not native to the region! If that is the correct definition, then White Pine and Sweetgum spreading all over my farm fits his definition of invasive.
Back to the Autumn Olive that you see in these two pictures! When we flush a covey of quail scattered out and feeding in this lespedeza, 95% of the time if the Autumn Olive is nearby, that is where the singles fly! It is also, when we have a heavy snow where I find the quail tracks leading up to and under the most dense stands of this Autumn Olive.
The good and the bad to Autumn Olive.
It is very shallow rooted and east to control if you have a big tractor and brush hog or a small dozer once it really gets out of hand. Bradford Pear, while not as shallow rooted is also pretty easy to control if you get after it early on.
We are constantly learning more about all the factors that are in play with this strong return of our native quail. One of our goals will be this year to harvest a small number of birds at different times to see what they may be eating and exactly how that plays into where we are finding them. At the moment, almost every covey is in the lespedeza. While the seed is not close to maturing, the thick patches are packed full of grasshoppers. The grasshoppers down low close to the ground have difficulty flying out and it appears they are easy picking for even the half grown quail!
Let me know if you want further updates on what we are learning...it is an evolution for sure!
