quail, first covey I have seen in 20+ years

[MossRoad]

Great news.

I grew up about 10 mile NW of Ft Wayne, IN. Before the late 70's, (pre-deer, when people used to rabbit hunt) you would see as many quail coveys as rabbits. Very common to hear them too. Someone said the blizzards about then wiped them out. Haven't heard a quail in southern Indiana for the 30 years I've lived down here.

My grandma told me that probably around 1920, they were going from South Bend to Ft. Wayne and their car broke down in Churubusco. They had to sit there for 3 days until it was fixed. I think about that every time I drive through there, and how today, I might be sitting there for 3 hours tops, between phones, tow truck, rentals, uber, spare car, etc...

 

[MossRoad]

View attachment 668691
I saw these last summer near Medaryville. Probably about 5 miles from Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife area. I haven't seen any in Marshall County in years.

We've seen them in Tippicanoe River State Park.

 

[cqaigy2]

See them very infrequently where i live. I wonder if they are from introduced bunch nearby.

When i live on the east side of the state, we would see quite a few of them. You could always depend on them to spook the heck out of you and or deer you were tracking when they would come blasting out of a thicket.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I think you folks "back east" have what I recall from Pennsylvania as "bob white quail". In Washington we seem to have an abundance of a slightly different member of the family - the California quail. They populate lmy junipers and the little ones are cute to watch tag along after their parents.

Here in Southern Oregon, mountain quail are dominant. They clutch twice a year, so can build population rapidly. They are bigger than valley quail and way bigger than bobwhite.

 

[jmc]

My grandma told me that probably around 1920, they were going from South Bend to Ft. Wayne and their car broke down in Churubusco. They had to sit there for 3 days until it was fixed. I think about that every time I drive through there, and how today, I might be sitting there for 3 hours tops, between phones, tow truck, rentals, uber, spare car, etc...

Bingo! 1920 was 35 years before our family moved there. Our main drag, US 33, was or still is, part of the Lincoln Highway- a major thoroughfare before the Interstate System. My dad said said it was an old buffalo trail before they paved it.

On a related note, once I-69 went in about 10 miles from 'Busco, a lot of interstate travelers ended up there, looking for trailer tires they had blown out on the interstate. Seemed that the closer gas stations only stocked car tires.

 

[wngsprd]

Nothing sounds prettier than to listen to bobwhites on a summer morning. We have a covey here and once nesting was complete, a few would come to eat under our bird feeders each day. Lots of foxes and coyotes here, too, so glad they have survived every year.

 

[lilranch2001]

Well I scared them up again this evening, (if its the same covey), I counted 9 of them around my asparagus patch as I drove by it on the eXmark, some of them dove inside the asparagus, and 2 of them stood their ground and just looked at me. I was no more than 3-4 feet away........

It was cool, as they didnt take me off guard and I was able to comprehend more about them this time.