SE Kansas Quail Unlimited Event to Feature National Habitat Director

The SE Kansas Quail Unlimited Chapter will be hosting a cookout/membership drive which promises to educate, inform, challenge and even satisfy the hunger of quail enthusiasts. The program is slated for Saturday, February 17, 2007 at 6:00 pm and will be held at the Producers Co-op in Girard.

The multifaceted event will feature guest speaker Roger Wells, Quail Unlimited National Habitat Director. Wells will be presenting a program entitled “Quail on a Kansas Farm”. Dennis Clutter, Crawford County Conservation District Buffer Coordinator, will also be addressing the group and will be providing answers to landowners questions regarding the popular Farm Bill program known as Practice CP33 (Habitat Buffers for Upland Birds).

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Chisholm Trail Chapter to Meet in Abilene

Abilene, KS (January 19, 2007)—The recently formed Chisholm Trail Chapter of Quail Unlimited, will be meeting to plan their chapter activities for 2007. The meeting, which is open to conservation-minded individuals, will be held on Wednesday, January 31, at 7:00 pm at the La Fiesta restaurant in Abilene.

“The new chapter is seeking enthusiastic and dedicated individuals that are sincerely interested in being a part of their quail recovery efforts,” said Bob Peterson, Quail Unlimited (QU) Central Plains Regional Director.

“Your membership in Quail Unlimited supports promotional and advocacy issues at state, regional and national levels. We’re actively involved in the conservation community, spending hundreds of hours annually participating in policy making meetings, setting the stage for quail-friendly practices and programs that benefit all quail enthusiasts,” said Peterson.

For directions to the La Fiesta Restaurant in Abilene, please contact Tonya Stroda at 785-366-7409. Refreshments will be served at the meeting.

For additional information concerning Quail Unlimited, contact Bob Peterson, Quail Unlimited Central Plains Regional Director, at 417-359-5807 or by email at bpeterson@qu.org or visit http://www.qu.org

Increasing Nest Predators Deadly for Quail and Other Songbirds

It should be no secret that loss of habitat is the primary reason behind the decline of the nation’s quail population. However, in the complicated web that is nature, other reason’s play a part in the survival of a quail. A much debated and sometimes controversial topic is nest predation. For years wildlife professionals and quail enthusiasts alike have agreed that predation of quail is a natural phenomena that does not drastically affect quail numbers. But, the tables may be turning.

R.J. Robel, a retired Kansas State professor and acclaimed upland bird biologist, along with Ron Klataske, Audubon of Kansas executive director; believe that an increasing raccoon population in the state of Kansas could be taking its toll on quail as well as a variety of other ground nesting birds, as stated in a recent Wichita Eagle article.

And they are not alone. Across the country predator control management plans are being put into place to curb the number of quail nests that are being depredated by raccoons and other mesopredators such as opossums and skunks.

Bye bye, birdie: Weather, growth lead to decline in quail numbers

By Mike Belt -The Lawrence Journal-World

In the 1950s when Dennis Domer was a boy growing up in Nemaha County, he didn’t have to walk far from his house to hunt quail.

“In about a mile or so there would be eight covey of quail or more,” said Domer, a rural Lawrence resident. “I never even had a dog. I just walked them up.”

But by the 1970s, the landscape had changed.

“I couldn’t go back there to hunt anymore because it would be like going to the moon,” he said. “That was such a great quail area.”

Landscape changes due to urban sprawl, modern farming practices and adverse weather patterns are among the big factors that have taken a toll on quail, hunters and wild game, experts say.

Southeast Kansas Quail Unlimited Chapter Looks Ahead

Girard, KS (December 28, 2006)—The newly formed Southeast Kansas (SEK) Quail Unlimited Chapter will be holding a meeting on Thursday, January 18, 2007, at 7:00 pm at the Producers Co-op in Girard, KS. The meeting is open to conservation-minded individuals interested in taking an active role in securing the future of the northern bobwhite quail and other upland game birds in the Crawford County Kansas area.

“Chisholm Trail” Quail Unlimited Chapter Forms at Trailhead

“We thought of several names and/or landmarks, attempting to be all inclusive, so folks from a broad area would know theywere certainly welcome to become part of our conservation efforts in this area. We felt that Chisholm Trail worked best,” stated Tonya Stroda, new chairman of the QU chapter.