Wow, what a spring! Time has really flown by at BWQ Farm. I thought I would recap what's 
been going on since my last post following the "award". Lets see, where to start? In Febuary I created 8 more downed timber structures, a.k.a. brush piles. Only 20 or so more to go.
been going on since my last post following the "award". Lets see, where to start? In Febuary I created 8 more downed timber structures, a.k.a. brush piles. Only 20 or so more to go.I contracted to have a pond built in my front ditch with help (cost share) from NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service). It will be about 1 acre. When NRCS recommended planting fescue on the dam and filter strips I thought, 
great, I've spent two years trying to eradicate fescue from my farm and here I'm going to have to plant it! Fortunately they had another planting option, Switch Grass. I'm not the biggest fan of Switch out of all the WSG (warm season grass) because I read it can get really dense, but I think I can control it after establishment by timing my burns. I'll have to look up exactly when to burn, when the time comes around in a couple of years. In the mean time if I happen to throw in some clover seed in the buffer strips and perhaps some lespedeza this fall I can get some nesting and brooding habitat for BWQ from adding a pond. Next spring my plan is to plant shrub plantings for HQ's in the buffer strips. My dam runs East to West with the back slope facing North. If it faced South it would remind me of a pond dam that I hunted years ago. On a cold winter day the BWQ would be basking in the sunshine under buck brush and blackberry canes. If you approached from the top of the dam they would flush into the trees down the creek before you could get a shot. If you came up the creek they would run to the top an you would hear them fly straight across the open water to the incoming creek cover.
great, I've spent two years trying to eradicate fescue from my farm and here I'm going to have to plant it! Fortunately they had another planting option, Switch Grass. I'm not the biggest fan of Switch out of all the WSG (warm season grass) because I read it can get really dense, but I think I can control it after establishment by timing my burns. I'll have to look up exactly when to burn, when the time comes around in a couple of years. In the mean time if I happen to throw in some clover seed in the buffer strips and perhaps some lespedeza this fall I can get some nesting and brooding habitat for BWQ from adding a pond. Next spring my plan is to plant shrub plantings for HQ's in the buffer strips. My dam runs East to West with the back slope facing North. If it faced South it would remind me of a pond dam that I hunted years ago. On a cold winter day the BWQ would be basking in the sunshine under buck brush and blackberry canes. If you approached from the top of the dam they would flush into the trees down the creek before you could get a shot. If you came up the creek they would run to the top an you would hear them fly straight across the open water to the incoming creek cover. Sorry for the trip down memory lane but often when I'm trying to visualize what, where, and how I'm going to create that perfect quail habitat I remember back to where I found those dependable coveys. You know the ones you can always depend on being there for the young dog to find. Or for you after a hard day "exploring" new territory. I can now visualize those coveys and the habitat. Coupled with my increasing BWQ knowledge I believe I can see the habitat elements and understand why the quail were there when they were there. I caution you not to do the opposite mental visualization. Last fall I was standing in areas of perfect fall habitat. The ragweed was shoulder high over wildflowers and open bare ground. My edge feathering was in place so where are the quail? I'm still pondering that question but I know longer lament their absence on that day. This spring when doing my shrub and tree planting I found old roosts in areas that I have never flushed a bird! I hope the answer is that the birds were there and I'm just not that good of a hunter (like the research shows, humans are not that efficient of quail predators). The good old days may have been good because we had a surpluses of birds in marginal (easily hunted) areas. By definition, if I'm creating perfect quail habitat have I made it impossible to hunt them?
Back to the progress report.
I burned three fescue grass areas this spring and will be spraying glyophosphate on them this Memorial weekend. Yes I know you are supposed to spray in the fall and then burn in the spring. Two years in a row I've waited for the shrubs to drop their leaves and go dormant and then 
spray the fescue while it was still actively growing. Since I only have weekends to work at the farm I never got a weekend that worked out. It was either windy or rainy when I wanted to spray. I've gotten poor kills doing this in the last two years because I sprayed in April before the grass was very tall. This year I've waited till the fescue, following the burn, is up and is 8 to 1o inches tall. I know I may kill some ragweed but I want to try it anyway. This fall I will try to spray the final areas to be burned in 2010.
spray the fescue while it was still actively growing. Since I only have weekends to work at the farm I never got a weekend that worked out. It was either windy or rainy when I wanted to spray. I've gotten poor kills doing this in the last two years because I sprayed in April before the grass was very tall. This year I've waited till the fescue, following the burn, is up and is 8 to 1o inches tall. I know I may kill some ragweed but I want to try it anyway. This fall I will try to spray the final areas to be burned in 2010. I planted 655 tree/shrub seedlings this April and May. That adds to the 250 in 2007 and the 525 
in 2008. I hadn't ever added these numbers up but since I've looked them up its neat to know that I've planted 1,430 seedlings. Most have gone into future HQ's to replace my downed timber structures. The plums I planted in 2007 are leafed out but were still struggling from their tops being nipped off by deer. I hope they are growing roots and can get fully established this year. Then start filling in. They were planted on a 5' x 5' grid pattern so they look like spread out sticks instead of a Covey Headquarter. I know I've got to wait 5 years but its hard to be patient. In the future I'll post a list of the different species I've planted and how they are doing. I bought my own dibble bar (planting bar) for $47 from CSP outdoors. Most MDC private land conservationists have ones that you can borrow. I borrowed the St. Joseph office's tree planter you pull behind a tractor. But with all the rain I couldn't use it so all the trees were put in by hand using the dibble bar.
in 2008. I hadn't ever added these numbers up but since I've looked them up its neat to know that I've planted 1,430 seedlings. Most have gone into future HQ's to replace my downed timber structures. The plums I planted in 2007 are leafed out but were still struggling from their tops being nipped off by deer. I hope they are growing roots and can get fully established this year. Then start filling in. They were planted on a 5' x 5' grid pattern so they look like spread out sticks instead of a Covey Headquarter. I know I've got to wait 5 years but its hard to be patient. In the future I'll post a list of the different species I've planted and how they are doing. I bought my own dibble bar (planting bar) for $47 from CSP outdoors. Most MDC private land conservationists have ones that you can borrow. I borrowed the St. Joseph office's tree planter you pull behind a tractor. But with all the rain I couldn't use it so all the trees were put in by hand using the dibble bar.
The trouble with deer and turkey hunting is it takes time away from quail habitat improvement, also known as hard work. My friends don't understand how much enjoyment I get at the end of a long day knowing I got the trees planted, or that I got the lost 6 acres burned. I must admit that turkey hunting was very good to me this year. On Saturday of the second weekend I called in a bird for my daughter, her first in three years. At 10:00 we went back out and I called a second one in for me. Yes hers was bigger by weight (23 lbs to my scrawney 17 lbs) but I bested her 1-1/8" spurs with 1-3/8". I am assuming mine might have been a 4 year old, well past his prime.
He wanted nothing to do with the gobbler decoy but headed straight toward the jake and hen I had also set out.
I heard several BWQ whistling while out hunting but never saw them. I did flush a pair with my truck on opening Monday.
The last Sunday of the season I was spraying locust and hedge sprouts with Crossbow and diesel when I caught a glimpse of a male quail sneaking away through the grass. Since he didn't flush I looked for a nest but didn't find it.
My sharecrop farmer got our corn planted on the 9th of May and the report as of today is that it is up above ground. Now, no more gully washers and a good nesting season!
