Fishin'Rod
Member
I mowed back a lot of our overgrown acreage this spring and performed three patch burns prior to nesting season.
However, my quail & pheasant habitat is completely overgrown again this summer. (We had abundant rains during the spring.)
The native grass prairie is nearly impenetrable up to my boundary edges and creek/tree edges. Our main habitat is sand plum thickets (0.1 to 0.5 acres in size) surrounded by native grass. The quail could hide there from an army of predators, but the cover is too thick for the quail to do anything else.
I was going to bush hog part of the circumference around some of the thickets to give the birds some habitat diversity. I also want to cut some trails between thickets so they can move from one headquarters to another. Some patch burning in the fall would also be an option.
Any advice on the best way to improve this habitat? Also the correct timing for any habitat modifications?
[We are located about 12 miles east of Prairie Drifter's large managed area.]
Thanks, Rod.
However, my quail & pheasant habitat is completely overgrown again this summer. (We had abundant rains during the spring.)
The native grass prairie is nearly impenetrable up to my boundary edges and creek/tree edges. Our main habitat is sand plum thickets (0.1 to 0.5 acres in size) surrounded by native grass. The quail could hide there from an army of predators, but the cover is too thick for the quail to do anything else.
I was going to bush hog part of the circumference around some of the thickets to give the birds some habitat diversity. I also want to cut some trails between thickets so they can move from one headquarters to another. Some patch burning in the fall would also be an option.
Any advice on the best way to improve this habitat? Also the correct timing for any habitat modifications?
[We are located about 12 miles east of Prairie Drifter's large managed area.]
Thanks, Rod.