Thank you for bringing the plight of the Bobwhite to the fore!
As a child, my mom and I would sit out back on the picnic table and whistle for the bobwhites. They would always whistle back! As I grew older, I would often whistle as I worked in my gardens, or whenever I found myself in a place that looked like a likely place for the little quail to hide. As time passed, I got fewer and fewer responses. I stopped, eventually, thinking that I was just too busy to wait as patiently as I had when I was younger. Then I had a chance to go back to the "old place" and whistled for my old friends. I waited. And I whistled. And I waited some more, but the quail were gone. That's when I started paying more attention. I whistled and waited pretty much every chance I got ... no bobwhites!
I now keep a "wild" patch of emergent forest in my yard. Next Spring, I hope to hatch some bobwhites for release. Between the foxes and the cats, there probably won't be many that make it, but I want to try. I miss talking to my little friends!
As a child, my mom and I would sit out back on the picnic table and whistle for the bobwhites. They would always whistle back! As I grew older, I would often whistle as I worked in my gardens, or whenever I found myself in a place that looked like a likely place for the little quail to hide. As time passed, I got fewer and fewer responses. I stopped, eventually, thinking that I was just too busy to wait as patiently as I had when I was younger. Then I had a chance to go back to the "old place" and whistled for my old friends. I waited. And I whistled. And I waited some more, but the quail were gone. That's when I started paying more attention. I whistled and waited pretty much every chance I got ... no bobwhites!
I now keep a "wild" patch of emergent forest in my yard. Next Spring, I hope to hatch some bobwhites for release. Between the foxes and the cats, there probably won't be many that make it, but I want to try. I miss talking to my little friends!
