We can solve conservation problems, but we need to do more than simply preserving natural areas and leaving them alone. Unmanaged natural areas can provide acceptable habitat, but usually far from optimal. There’s a few reasons for that: 1. land use change and development has so altered the landscape that we need to actively work to represent a diversity of habitats in conserved areas. 2. Natural processes like fire, grazing from native herbivores, and predation by apex predators, which interacted to shape vegetation diversity, are usually absent. 3. Invasive species can dramatically reduce the habitat value of an area 4. A lot of our forests were harvested 80 to 100 years ago, and we now have relatively even-aged stands that lack age and structural diversity needed to support a diversity of wildlife. Despite all this, we have the knowledge and ability to manage natural areas to support greater biodiversity and abundance. It often involves targeted disturbance. Warning some of these may surprise you: -Strategic timber harvest to create structural and species diversity and establish forest understory. -Herbicide for invasive and undesirable plants, -Prescribed fire to maintain open grassland areas, -Timed disking to stimulate wildflowers, and/or -Targeted grazing to mimic historical herbivory and reduce grass dominance. Determining how to apply these tools can take a lot of nuance and should be done with forethought, but they can make dramatic improvements for some of our most declining wildlife species.

Japanese stiltgrass is one of the worst invasives in the Eastern US. I tried mechanical control for years and it didn’t affect it at all. I finally got serious experimenting with herbicides this spring. I found 3 that each work well, but the price per acre is a 5x difference. The video gives a detailed breakdown of two of my replicates and how they turned out. Here’s the pricing by per acre cost based on today’s prices. Imazapic (Plateau), listed last, is the cheapest option. Pendimethalin 38.7% (Prowl H2O) — $131.95 per 2.5-gallon jug — 4 quarts per acre — $53 per acre Prodiamine 40.7% (Prodiamine 4L) — $199.95 per 2.5-gallon jug — 26 fluid ounces per acre — $16 per acre Imazapic 23.3% (Panoramic 2SL / Plateau) — $330.00 per 2.5-gallon jug — 10 fluid ounces per acre — $10 per acre

Judging from the increasing acorn drop on our trampoline, looks like it’s going to be a pretty good acorn year.

Mourning dove aging: You can tell the young of the year by the light colored edges of the feathers. Works for bobwhite quail too, but for them lgit’s just the primary covert feathers that have it.

Houston, I think we have wild bobwhites in Southern Maryland.

Besides predator escape cover, blackberries also get you this.

Great to see more habitat going in on the ground. And just as important… showing it off to the public and teaching them about what goes into it on tours like this.

I can highly recommend Pastureguard for controlling sericea lespedeza, six days later and they are definitely cooked. I used 20 ounces in 25 gallons of water with 12 ounces of non-ionic surfactant.

Growing bucks.

Rapid tree id by flower timing. Black Locust blooms are winding down now on the Eastern Shore.

Always fun when you see these little dinosaurs show up in your back yard.

Was great meeting one of the foremost quail experts in the country: Dr. Dale Rollins. Session 1 of Quailmasters at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch is wrapped up. 3 to go in South Texas east Texas and the panhandle.

About to start Quailmasters course at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch. Excited to expand my knowledge about Texas quail management.