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Brian,
Do you think this 2nd covey is part of the same release, do the numbers make sense? Those birds are doing real well! Has there ever been any sign of the quail released last year?
 
I released quail out of the second jh when Sandy came through and messed up the feed tubes. I think the second group is from that jh. I have not seen any signs of last year's. quail since August. The birds that are there now will try to pair up in about six more weeks.
 
I had some time after work to run the dogs down at the club. We went to our usual place and didn't find anything but I avoided a swampy area that the birds sometimes visit. Ater not finding anything here I thought I would hit a different area where I have found a woodcock or two in the past. Not long after letting the dogs out they had a not so typical find here in PA. I saw 9 hens and a single rooster running into some briars that are at the edge of a wooded area. I couldn't get good pictures but got what I could:

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They found them again on the way back to the truck:
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And then when driving home I saw another hen and rooster in a different field. The birds looked real good and the roosters were very colorful. I wish I could have got some pictures of them.
 
Your Club property is really turning into a mecca for upland birds! Have you seen any woodcock yet? I've seen quite a few in central Jersey. Thanks for the photos.
 
I have not seen any yet but I am meeting up with somebody Saturday morning to run the dogs and look for some woodcock.

The club will get even better once the funds are available through EQIP. I think the club grounds that will be put into habitat is at the top of the list.
 
We had 3 dogs running today and didn't find any woodcock. But we did find a nice flock of turkeys. Could have stayed out longer but the youngest boy decided to fall in the creek. He told me that water is wet. Glad I took him to find that out.
 
That's a nice looking "tangle" for pheasant security. :thumbsup:
 
A few guys on here like to hear about the quail and pheasant at a local club so here is a little update. I went down today to run the dogs with my oldest son who just turned 7. It was cold and windy but he didn't seem to mind. We walked some mowed paths without finding anything (besides a cat) but we did hear some roosters crowing. We kept walking on the edges of the fields and woods without finding anything but we were lucky enough to hear the geese as they flew over and a distant call from an owl. We started to walk back to the truck and then Nittany finially had a point on the edge of the largest switchgrass field. A single hen flushed up and went to the opposite end of the field. Shortly after that a covey of 12-15 birds flushed from the same field. This was a pleasant suprise since it has been almost 3 weeks since I saw any sign of them in the area. Before we left we saw 3 more hens flush out of the same switchgrass field. We were not out very long but my son got to see a lot and enjoyed the walk. Sorry but no pictures this time.
 
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Thanks for the report. That's a good sized covey! Ive also been hearing a lot of crowing in the area with the unique birds. I set up a feeding area with corn, with the hopes of maybe getting a few pictures. These birds walked rite over the corn without touching it. I could tell from the tracks in the snow. They have just never seen it before. I'll keep trying for pictures. I did verify another area in NJ that has wild pheasants.
 
Good work on the new area with birds.

If I remember correctly, Lynn said that pheasants have walked through corn fields to get to the sorghum. Maybe some sorghum will get those birds to stop.

I ran the dogs again today and didn't find anything. That's the way it goes.
 
I tried some Rose Hips and they hammered them, the problem is finding enough of them. I am taking Dugan out tomorrow and will set up a blocker with camera.This area is extremely hard to navigate "swampy", but I'll give it a shot. Starting to see a lot of Woodcock! How about in your area?

Would love to be able study these birds! "captive breeding".;)
 
I have not come accross any woodcock yet. I may take the dogs out in the morning and give it a good try to find some. I have heard that some other people in the area have seen a couple but not many.

Good luck with operation swampy pheasant!
 
Went out this morning and had some action, but since this thread is getting a little long winded I'll start a new thread for that. New Jerseys Wild Pheasant.
 
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