Quail-Tech™ Newsletter Archive
Issue 18. Summer 2016
As usual, spring and summer have been extremely busy. We completed our whistle count points in May and June and we were pleased to see a significant upward trend. We detected an average of 7.1 northern bobwhite males per point (NBMPP) during spring 2016 which is an amazing number.
Issue 17. Spring 2016
I hope you had a terrific quail season like I had. Fortunately, I was able to spend many days in the field with friends and family watching dogs point and quail coveys flush. My dog honed his skills this year and my son really caught the quail hunting fever. We shot some birds and enjoyed some great meals and fellowship. What a season!
Issue 16. Winter 2016
Things at the Quail-Tech Alliance are as busy as ever. I again want to begin this newsletter by thanking our generous donors including The Burnett Foundation, The Park Cities Chapter of the Quail Coalition, The Hill Country Chapter of the Quail Coalition, The Cross Timbers Chapter of the Quail Coalition, Quail First, The Bromberg Foundation, and Mr. Bill Goddard.
Issue 15. Summer 2015
Things at the Quail-Tech Alliance are as busy as ever. I again want to begin this newsletter by thanking our generous donors including The Burnett Foundation, The Park Cities Chapter of the Quail Coalition, The Hill Country Chapter of the Quail Coalition, The Cross Timbers Chapter of the Quail Coalition, Quail First, The Bromberg Foundation, and Mr. Bill Goddard.
Issue 14. Winter 2015
The Wildlife Society Bulletin is a peer-reviewed science journal that is published by the Wildlife Society. Peer-review is a process by which anonymous reviewers and editors of a journal evaluate the scientific quality of an article and determine if it should be published or not. We are very proud that our work has been validated by this review process and will be published for the benefit of others.
Issue 13. Summer 2014
As usual, spring and summer have been extremely busy. Once again the personnel at the Quail-Tech Alliance find ourselves wearing our research and construction hats. We completed over 400 whistle count points in May and June and we were pleased to see a significant upward trend. We detected an average of 3.2 northern bobwhite males per point (NBMPP) during spring 2014.
Issue 12. Winter 2014
The most dominant event to occur over the past few months has been the extreme input from Mother Nature herself. The Rolling Plains has seen multiple winter storm events with the most recent dumping 12 to 14 inches of snow that stayed for several days (Figure 1). Unfortunately, this harsh storm caused severe quail mortality (Figure 2). Birds not receiving supplemental food had to burn their own body tissues to stay warm during this storm.
Issue 11. Fall 2013
Financially, we have been blessed with record funding of over $1.5 million in grants and donations during 2013. These funds have come from the Burnett Foundation, The Park Cities Chapter of the Quail Coalition, The Hill Country Chapter of the Quail Coalition, The Cross Timbers Chapter of the Quail Coalition, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Quail First, and The Bromberg Foundation. Additionally, credit goes to our anchor ranches and landowners who make this work possible with their generous participation in the program.
Issue 10. Summer 2013
As usual, spring and summer have been extremely busy; still finding us wearing both our research and construction hats. We completed 506 whistle count points during the months of May and June and were pleased to see an upward trend. We detected an average of 2.1 northern bobwhite males per point during spring 2013.
Issue 09. Winter 2012
We have completed fall covey call counts and have been continuing our multi-pronged efforts to benefit quail. There is a wide range (0 to 6.5) of means among Anchor Ranches with a mean of all Anchor Ranches of 2.3 coveys per point (see Figure 1). Fortunately this is a 50% increase from our Fall 2011 numbers of 1.5 coveys per point.
Issue 08. Summer 2012
Given the extreme drought that inhibited reproduction over most of the Rolling Plains during 2011 and the mortality that has occurred over winter (2011/2012), I am encouraged to hear birds in reproductive condition during the 2012 nesting season. Indeed, we are hearing reports of broods seen in many areas of the Rolling Plains. Birds have attempted second nests in some areas as well.
Issue 07. Spring 2012
It seems like just yesterday when we finished covey counts last fall. We provided an analysis of covey count results in the last newsletter (Issue 6.0). Spring whistling male counts will be started in a month and we are getting prepared for those now. Additionally, we plan to conduct nest predator surveys as well this year. We have been extensively trapping birds on anchor ranches for the past few months.
Issue 06. Winter 2011
Fall 2011 has been extremely busy. We have almost completed fall covey call counts (see article in this issue) and have been continuing our multi-pronged efforts to benefit quail. We continued our surveillance for West Nile Virus in serum samples. Analyses revealed that only 0.4% (1 of 275) of samples tested were positive for anti-West Nile Virus antibodies.
Issue 05. Summer 2011
The Wildlife Society Bulletin is a peer-reviewed science journal that is published by the Wildlife Society. Peer-review is a process by which anonymous reviewers and editors of a journal evaluate the scientific quality of an article and determine if it should be published or not. We are very proud that our work has been validated by this review process and will be published for the benefit of others.
Issue 04. Spring 2011
We first described a supplemental feeding study taking place on the 6666 Ranch in our Winter 2010 Newsletter. You will recall this research, which started in September 2010, is using a 14,000 acre pasture separated into 1,000 acre treatment and control plots. The treatment plots receive supplemental feed while the control plots receive no supplemental feed.
Issue 03. Winter 2010
The Quail-Tech Alliance held a field day on the 6666 Ranch on October 23, 2010. Though stormy weather the day before and morning of the field day likely chased some people away, the event was well attended by about 70 people. The agenda started with presentations in the Guthrie High School Auditorium on a range of topics from quail-disease interactions to grazing management and economics.
Issue 02. Summer 2010
May, June, and July have really flown by. Our scientists have completed 445 call count points on 19 anchor ranches since the 15th of May. Anchor ranches averaged 2.8 calling bobwhite males per point with a range of 0 to 4.6 calling males per point. We have also completed about 70% of the 4,450 vegetation survey points that correspond (10 per call count point) with the call count points.
Issue 01. Spring 2010
February, March and April have been exciting months for the Quail-Tech Alliance. Our scientists have visited 14 anchor ranches since February 1 averaging about 3 days on each ranch. We trapped birds to provide feather and blood samples for genetic and disease analyses which will be ongoing the next several months.