Quail Task Force

Ames Plantation Quail Task Force
Report of 2001 Quail Task Force Meeting:
Ames Plantation
Quail Task Force Meeting
October 14-15,2001
by
Joe Walker
 

Those in attendance were: Richard Harte, Jr., Chairman; Waldo Dodge; Frank McKnight; T. Jack Robinson; Nathan Cottrell; J. D. Boss; George Hopper; Bill Palmer; Wes Burger; Clay Sisson; Mike Kennedy; Steve Cole; Jim Anderson; Rick Carlisle; Allan Houston; Rachel Chambers; Mark Johnson; Shelton Whittington, and your scribe. Forest Kellogg, David Buehler and David Godwin were unable to attend.

After welcoming statements from Chairman Harte, Dr. McKnight stated that there were 30% more birds pointed during the National Championship this year as determined by the number of dogs with multiple finds than the previous year and that the extensive work (timber removal) had a very positive effect.

Rachel Chambers stated that the quail count this year indicated 1 quail per acre, up from 1 quail per 1.5 acres last year. The timber removal project had produced a better over-winter survival in the treatment areas and a decrease in the number of Cooper's hawks using those areas. She said that spring survival (April to October) was about 35% for both morning and afternoon courses. Her studies showed that decreasing winter cover made birds easier to find by the dogs but more available to predators. Seven percent of the collared birds were found during the 2001 National Championship as compared to 3.6% and 4.4% for 2000 and 1999, respectively.

Wes Burger spoke of science-based management for quail production on the field trial courses instead of haphazard method of "shooting from the hip". Overwinter quail survival has been the biggest problem on both courses in recent years. Research data taken over the last 3 years indicates that the timber removal and subsequent grassland reclamation reduced Cooper's Hawk use of those areas, thus resulting in increased overwinter survival of the fall population. Spring to fall survival has not fared as well indicating that mammalian predation continues to be a problem during the breeding season. Trapping of fur-bearing animals during the breeding season is not allowed at this time by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Dr. Burger mentioned several other components of adaptive resource management that have an effect on quail survival. Those variables would include nesting success, brood and escape habitat, as well as make and female incubation during the breeding season.

Allan Houston reported that the second phase of the grassland reclamation project was in the planning stage. Another 440 acres will be cleared during the spring and summer months of 2002. About half of the field trial courses were burned this year, Allan reporting "his best burn ever".

Mike Kennedy told of the Mammalian Predator Trapping Research study. Mike and his students are suing 5 grid areas (1 grid = 640 acres) with 64 traps per grid. Canned cat food is used for bait in the traps, approximately 4 feet long, 1 foot high and 1 foot wide. Graduate students catch, tranquilize, tag and either release and/or remove the animals depending on whether the animal has a collar and is involved with the study. Traps are checked daily with raccoons ranking first in population density followed by opossums and skunks. Life expectancy for opossums and skunks is about 2 years, while raccoons may reach up to 15 years of age.

Shelton Whittington spoke of the 24/7 video filming program with some interesting nest predations observed in action. Of the six nest predations caught on film in 2001, 5 were skunks. One predation was a snake and all of the action was at night, seen by the infrared cameras. Fifteen of 21 observed nests hatched. It was noted that even though cotton rats cannot crack and eat the eggs by themselves they were caught on film rolling the eggs from the nest with the quail hen putting them back the next day. The nest cameras and big 12-volt tractor batteries were well camouflaged. The first camera purchased and used cost $5,500. Shelton personally built several superior camera systems for about $1,300 each.

Allan Houston reported that the Hawk Project was near completion. Nine hawks were trapped and collared last year but only 2 this year. One hawk consistently left Ames to visit Woodlawn Plantation near LaGrange, Tennessee, every time they released pen-raised quail for hunting purposes and would return to Ames once that population had been depleted.

Bill Palmer and Clay Sisson reported on their quail restoration program in Albany and Tall Timbers from which the Ames project is modeled. On Pineland Plantation 300 animals have been removed in a 5,000-acre area. Over half were raccoons, some bobcats and armadillos. With a good blackberry hatch this year, raccoons seemed more interested in blackberries than quail nests. Snakes were the biggest nest predators this year on Pineland. Quail chick production was up about 2 1/2 times this year over the previous 2 years. Cotton rats had been observed killing several young chicks.

T. Jack Robinson stressed the importance of removing tall ground cover from field centers along the course. Either chopping, mowing or planting crops is necessary for better visibility. Clearing the centers of fields pushes the quail to the field edges where field trial dogs usually hunt. Joe Walker stated that this had been an important factor in locating coveys in venues used by the Mid-South Field Trial Association.

In summary Chairman Harte said that the impact of technology - GPS, tracking collars, infrared cameras, and etc. had taken a lot of the guess work from our ideas regarding quail propagation because now we had facts and could make sound science-based decisions on how best to teal with quail populations and field trail course issues.
Ames management had followed closely recommendations of the Task Force and results were encouraging. With more grassland reclamation next year, the courses will be wider with a big expanse for the dogs to hunt. The overall plan is to get the birds back in good numbers followed by a program to allow for the clearing of field centers and creating additional fields to offset research costs at the same time.

Report of 2000 Quail Task Force Meeting:
AMES PLANTATION QUAIL TASK FORCE
BY
Joe G. Walker


The 18th meeting of the Ames Plantation Quail Task Force was held October 11-12, 2000 on the Ames Plantation. Those in attendance were: Richard Harte, Jr. Chairman, Waldo Dodge, Oliver Spalding, Wes Burger, Clay Sisson, Forest Kellogg, David Buelher, Steve Cole, George Hopper, Mike Kennedy, Laura Lake, Frank McKnight, J. D. Boss, Nathan Cottrell, Rachel Chambers, Allan Houston, Mark Johnson, Rhett Dodge, J. M. Anderson, R. J. Carlisle and your scribe.

After welcoming statements from Chairman Harte, Dr. Anderson spoke of the 2000 National Championship and the lack of covey finds by the dogs, particularly on the afternoon course. Only 5 percent of the radio collared coveys available were pointed by the dogs on the morning course and less than 2 percent on the afternoon course. The afternoon following the ending of the championship, using telemetry equipment, 12 coveys were flushed in about 3 hours for all who would come to observe. (A video tape of this event was shown to the group later in the meeting.) Dr. Carlisle stated that there were 292 feed patches covering 485 acres prepared for the coming season and the courses would be less heavy due to the extensive spraying of Plateau herbicide on 475 acres for Japangrass. Dr. McKnight stated that the low number of quail was a problem for the National Field Trial Champion Association (NFTCA), Inc., and asked what could be done about it.

Dr. Allan Houston stated that major forest conversion, of over 580 acres, from hardwoods to grasslands had been completed on both courses and noted that 2 years would be required to recover growth for decent habitat. He recommended that we wait 1 more year before continued conversion. He also discussed a snake research project that was in the planning stage.

Ms Rachel Chambers, Research Associate responsible for the Quail Research Project on Ames, reported that the forest conversions had been beneficial to the quail crop this year. The earlier whistle count showed an 11% increase over last year. Another count will be made during the period October 17-23, 2000. Sixteen people, counting 6 days in a row, are required for the census. Rachel and her staff have trapped and put radio collars on 60 to 70 birds this summer and fall. The mortality rate from spring to fall is 65 percent. She noted that fire ants killed some of the partially hatched chicks. There were more chicks hatched this year with bigger nests. Forest conversion areas proved great for brood rearing and had over half of the nesting located in and near the cut-over areas. Mammalian predation is up this year while avian predation is down from last year. Continuous 24-hour a day, 7 days a week, monitoring of nest by infrared cameras has been very enlightening. A female Cooper=s Hawk was caught in action swooping down to kill an adult quail. Research work from Tall Timbers and the Albany Game Management Project indicate that armadillos have proven to be greater predators on quail eggs than the cotton rat. It was noted that the Low Lands area on the morning course has several coveys this year, with few or none in earlier years.

Dr. Mike Kennedy told of 3 new research projects related to mammalian predators density using live trapping and radio telemetry.

Dr. David Buelher is continuing the walk flush census started by Dr. Ralph Dimmick over 20 years ago. His talk included this year's nest count and Ms Laura Lake told of her ongoing hawk telemetry study with both the Cooper's and Red Tail Hawks.

Both the morning and afternoon field trial courses were visited during a field trip. The change in landscape due to the extensive hardwood timber conversion to grasslands was unbelievable! Some changes in the courses may be made due to less cover and better visibility.

A summary of Mississippi State University quail research was given by Dr. Wes Burger. Clay Sisson told of the Albany Quail research project at Pineland Plantation and the improvement in quail production during the past several years. The Ames group has modeled its quail propagation program after the Albany project.

Mr. Harte summarized the work that's being done and plans for the future. Having enough birds for the 2001 National Championship and being able to find them with the dogs continues as the immediate problem.

Report of 1999 Quail Task Force Meeting:
AMES PLANTATION
QUAIL TASK FORCE MEETING
by
Joe Walker

Radical change best describes the consensus of those attending the Quail Task Force Meeting at Ames Plantation on October 27 & 28, 1999. Those attending the meeting were: Richard Harte Jr, Chairman and Trustee of the Plantation; Waldo E. Dodge, Trustee; Jim Anderson, Superintendent; Rick Carlisle, Associate Superintendent; Allan Houston, Forester & Wildlife Biologist; Rachel Chambers, Research Associate, Ames; Mark Johnson, Field Trial Assistant, Ames; Bill Palmer, Balfour Game Bird Management Fellow, Tall Timber Research Station; Wes Burger, Research Scientist/Wildlife Ecologist, Mississippi State University; Clay Sisson, Project Coordinator, Albany Quail Project, Albany Georgia; David Buehler, Associate Professor Wildlife Management, The University of Tennessee (UT); George Hopper, Professor & Head, Department of Forestry, Wildlife & Fisheries, UT; Dave Godwin, Small Game Biologist, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks; Frank McKnight, President, National Field Trial Champion Association (NFTCA); T. Jack Robinson, Director NFTCA; Rhett Dodge, Observer, and your scribe, Reporter and Director, NFTCA.

A summary of the Japangrass eradication project revealed 480 acres of field trial habitat sprayed with Plateau herbicide and an additional 30 acres of Arsenal herbicide was used to control not only Japangrass but also various young hardwood species. It was noted that a total of 360 feed patches were planted in 1999 totaling over 275 acres on the field trial courses and an additional 225 acres of crop land was fallowed in 1999 in addition to the 310 acres fallowed in 1998. Rachel Chambers gave a summary of her Quail Telemetry Research Project and Joe Walker related their post field trial experiences with dogs and telemetered quail birds. Quail Research Projects on Ames and other areas in the Southeast were discussed by Allan Houston, Wes Burger, Bill Palmer, Dave Buehler and Clay Sisson.

An afternoon tour of the field trial courses had everyone in awe. Since the 1999 National Championship over 500 acres of timber had been completely cleared or heavily thinned. Some areas were hard to recognize. The earlier cleared areas had all debris removed and planted wheat had germinated. Later cleared areas were in the process of debris removal with wheat seeding scheduled later.

Chairman Harte stated that the field trial courses last year had 52% wooded areas (approximately 2,600 acres), which Game Biologists thought was too much for good field trial habitat. In order to reach the ideal goal of 25% timber (approximately 1250 acres) on both courses, the Plantation would need to remove about 1300 acres of timber over the next 6 years. The research project was divided into two 3-year periods for evaluation. Approximately 650 acres of timber would be removed during each 3-year period. To accomplish this objective for the first 3-year period, each course was divided into two parts. The Southwest part of the morning course and the Northeast part of the afternoon course was selected for thinning during this first 3-year period. Because of the abnormally dry conditions during 1999, just about all of the timber scheduled for thinning or removal during the first 3-year period has been accomplished. There is roughly 100 acres of timber left to be removed during the next 2 years. The remaining 650 acres of timber will be removed from the balance of the courses beginning in 2002. Quail and predator populations will be monitored in the cleared areas during this first 3-year time period and compared to the uncleared areas scheduled for clearing later. Since the above-ground forest has been removed, major efforts over the next couple of years will be to complete the thinning process on the first part selected, but also to control the underground forest that will try to reclaim those cleared or thinned areas. Some cleared areas have already been treated with Achemical mowing to reduce the underground hardwood forest that is trying to return. The Plantation is well on the way of reaching a goal of 25% woods, 20% crop land, and 55% open and fallowed fields. The clearing is expected to increase desirable quail habitat and decrease the amount of choice predator habitat. The increased fallowed areas will provide more nesting and better brood rearing habitat. Radio telemetry observation estimates indicated that during the 1998-99 field trial season, 65% of the quail crop was lost from September to February due to predation. This lowered the September estimated population from 1 quail bird per 1.54 acres to approximately 1 quail bird per 4 acres, which makes for a less than desirable population for field trial season and a poor carry over to the breeding season. Research efforts showed that only 5% of the radioed coveys were pointed during the four trials held at Ames in 1999, as reported in the in the November-December, 1999 issue, of Quail Unlimited Magazine. In addition to reduced predator habitat, this new field trial environment is an effort to increase the number of coveys on the courses and to make them more available to the dogs. More weed and grass cover will be left in the 1999 - 2000 period to give added protection to the quail from avian predators.

This is the beginning of an on-going change in the appearance of the courses. More clearing will be done and Allan Houston, Ames Resident Forester and Wildlife Biologist, and his staff will be implementing measures to control the regrowth which will be more evident next year. Several new erosion control basins were necessary with some of the clearing on the morning breakaway and others are in next year's plans.

In discussing the year-round quail feeding program all Game Biologists in attendance strongly recommended a continuation of the present program which included summer feeding during 1999. Clay Sisson reported that over-winter survival had improved from 15% to 50% in the Albany, Georgia area with year round feeding of corn and milo. These year round feeding programs require about 1 bushel per acre per year. It was pointed out also that this feeding effort produces many more quail which offsets the reduced time quail spend feeding, reducing their vulnerability to predators without reducing the availability of birds to the dogs.

Frank McKnight, NFTCA President, asked for opinions on releasing pen raised quail on the field trial courses and its potential impact on the research projects now underway. All Game Biologists present were strongly opposed quoting various controlled research studies done in South Carolina, Georgia and Oklahoma where there had been major negative impacts on the wild native populations as a result of releasing pen raised birds into these native populations. Given the known populations of wild birds on Ames, there seemed to be no interest in a release program on Ames Plantation. Instead, the Trustees of the Hobart Ames Foundation and the Plantation staff were commended for their very aggressive program to re-establish the wild population on the National Championship courses.

Chairman Harte expressed his desire that handlers and owners who anticipate competing in the 2000 National Championship attend earlier trials in order to see the new field trial environment and get re-familiarized with the courses..

Waldo Dodge, Trustee, suggested having another Quail Task Force Meeting in 12 months to review the status of the courses rather than the customary 18 month period between meetings. Chairman Harte concurred with his suggestion commenting that with all the exciting changes taking place over the next several months the next Quail Task Force Meeting would be held during the fall of 2000.

Report of 1998 Quail Task Force Meeting:

This organization, chaired by Richard Harte, Jr., and composed of prominent field trialers and game biologists, met at Ames Plantation April 17 - 19, 1998, to review quail management activities on the Plantation and to offer recommendations for improvement during 1998-99.

Items discussed:

  • Purpose of Task Force

  • Present indicators of bobwhite quail populations on Ames Plantation

  • An assessment of Plantation management response to recommendations of the November, 1996, Task Force meeting:

    • Predator removal program

    • Brush control

    • Kobe lespedeza fields

    • Intensive feed strips and patches

    • Supplemental feeding program

    • Hardwood forest on the field trial courses

    • Grazing cattle on the field trial courses

  • New business addressed the primary question: "How do you get out of the cellar and improve the present quail populations?"

    • Invasion of Microstegium vimineum (Japangrass)
      For details of Japangrass control measure evaluations click here.

  • What to do?

    • Spray infested areas with herbicides to kill Japangrass while releasing legumes, broomsedge, and broadleaf weeds that would benefit quail reproductive efforts

    • Convert "wet" areas to cropland and replace the lost nesting habitat with land areas from well-drained areas

  • Rodent populations and their impact on quail nesting success

  • Mycotoxin levels in overwintered soybeans and the effects on survival and reproductive efficiency of quail

  • Impacts of great increase in indigenous fire ant populations

Conclusions and Recommendations:

  1. Continue the present predator control program in late January and early February.

  2. Continue the supplemental feeding program with whole shelled corn from November to May.

  3. Control Japangrass by burning more of the field trial course area--targeting the heavy infestations and research the best methods of controlling this exotic invader and then implement the best controls.

  4. Continue the intensive feed patch program with corn, grain sorghum, and soybeans.

  5. Add more strategically placed soybean patches (0.5 to 1.5 acres in size) for winter-spring use--no harvesting to be done from these patches.

  6. Conventional till rather than no-till areas that have been in no-till since 1983.

  7. Reduce, by spraying, bicolor lespedeza stands which have gotten too thick.

  8. Maintain some disk lanes (disking the same lanes each month) on the field trial courses from April to October.

  9. Mow all field roads on the courses each month from April to October.

  10. Summer burn and/or herbicide pine stands with heavy hardwood understories.

  11. Begin conversion of some hardwood stands to pine stands on marginal areas on the courses.

  12. Research the quail: small mammal: Japanese stilt grass: predator dynamics occurring on the field trial courses.
     

Finally, the Quail Task Force addressed the issue of releasing pen raised quail to supplement the present native population. Conclusions:

  1. There appears to be an adequate number of native bobwhite quail to conduct research on the Plantation, but a more effective means of accurately estimating quail populations needs to be developed.

  2. There appears to be sufficient numbers of quail present to offer a reasonably opportunity for reproductive success during the 1998 nesting season. (This judgement along with the potential disease contamination, gene pool pollution, and elimination of native quail research opportunities were cited as reasons for not releasing quail at this time).

  3. The release option remains an alternative under continuing consideration as natural, uncontrollable circumstances dictate.

For more details: see article on the subject in The American Field magazine.