Bobwhite reintroduction

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,154
4,258
Pines; Bamber area
That photo caption (you have to click on it) really seems backward. And I believe Bill Sr. passed away? Anyone else agree? The photo should indicate that.
 

ecampbell

Piney
Jan 2, 2003
2,840
958
The caption does seem backward.
I used to hear Bobwhite all the time back in the 70's. I don't think I heard one for more than a decade. The obvious change in the pines I see since then is the trees have gotten so tall, no open space and the light doesn't' get to the ground. The change has been slow but dramatic.
 

GermanG

Piney
Apr 2, 2005
1,111
434
Little Egg Harbor
Unrestricted fire before European settlement and later widespread clearing for agriculture, lumber, and charcoal production resulted in habitat idea for Bobwhite, Eastern Bluebirds and other species requiring open forests and fields. It's good to see habitat restoration such as in the above article going on. Another good example of this type of project is at the intersection of Rt. 530 and Davenport Rd., just north of Double Trouble State Park. The NJ Audubon Society took some initial local flak for the degree of clearing done on the site, but it closely duplicates what repeated and severe fires that once took place would have produced and a habitat once much more widespread.
 

Gibby

Piney
Apr 4, 2011
1,640
442
Trenton
I am glad that Haines family "gets it" and isn't afraid to take care of business. We need more people like them around.
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,143
Coastal NJ
Hopefully they are part of the NJ Quail Project and working with NJF&W. It began a number of years ago and has been making steady progress. I wish them luck with the stocked birds; stocking has not had much success elsewhere. Wild egg incubation with subsequent release appears to provide better results, hence the Quail in the Classroom program.

http://www.quailintheclassroom.org/

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/quailplan.pdf

Some wild birds can still be found on some of the NWR's, Forsythe for one.
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,154
4,258
Pines; Bamber area
It's good to see habitat restoration such as in the above article going on. Another good example of this type of project is at the intersection of Rt. 530 and Davenport Rd., just north of Double Trouble State Park. The NJ Audubon Society took some initial local flak for the degree of clearing done on the site, but it closely duplicates what repeated and severe fires that once took place would have produced and a habitat once much more widespread.

I agree. I used to be against this sort of thing, but now I kind of like it. It allows more herbs to thrive. It's all good as long as it does not get out of hand. I like the closed forest even more.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,603
8,181
They woke me up every morning in the summer when I was growing up in Marlton. It was farmland and fields then and they were everywhere. With that said the cows woke me up also as well as the farmers automatic "guns" that went off every few minutes to scare off the birds.
 

johnnyb

Explorer
Feb 22, 2013
474
200
96
Bill Haines Jr. a couple of years back agreed to withhold mowing the road shoulder on the east side of 563 until plants had gone to seed,where a few Platanthera blephariglottis/White Fringed Orchids were growing. In exchange, that shoulder would be policed to remove trash. A couple years later 250+ plants were observed, one of the bigger populations here. Mr. Miller, owner of a cranberry operation below Atsion, also agreed to hold off mowing to protect a population of Spiranthes cernua/Ladies Tresses. Conservation is well and kicking.....
 

PINEY WARDEN

Explorer
Jan 13, 2012
260
262
Bill Haines Jr. a couple of years back agreed to withhold mowing the road shoulder on the east side of 563 until plants had gone to seed,where a few Platanthera blephariglottis/White Fringed Orchids were growing. In exchange, that shoulder would be policed to remove trash. A couple years later 250+ plants were observed, one of the bigger populations here. Mr. Miller, owner of a cranberry operation below Atsion, also agreed to hold off mowing to protect a population of Spiranthes cernua/Ladies Tresses. Conservation is well and kicking.....

I agree totally. Most Farmers in the Pines Region and outside are great stewards to the environment for sure. Most folks do not realize that the larger landowners which comprise mainly of the farmers were the ones that kept the Pine Barrens alive and protected long before the Pinelands Act was ever thought of. A lot of history and generations has been past down through the farming families and continuing. :)
 

Oriental

Explorer
Apr 21, 2005
253
133
As many of you probably know, at one time the Pygmy Plains were known as the Grouse Plains due to the abundance of Pinnated Grouse or Heath Hens that thrived in the area. Parties of hunters used to travel from the cities by wagon to enjoy a day of shooting in the pines. The birds were hunted out of existence by the middle of the 1800s. A small population hung on in Martha's Vineyard for several decades longer but now the species (or sub-species) is extinct. I always wondered if a cousin of these birds, the Prairie Chicken, could be re-introduced.
 

Pan

Explorer
Jul 4, 2011
554
246
Arizona
"...
I used to hear Bobwhite all the time back in the 70's. I don't think I heard one for more than a decade. The obvious change in the pines I see since then is the trees have gotten so tall, no open space and the light doesn't' get to the ground. The change has been slow but dramatic.



Same here. And as for the trees getting much taller, see my avatar. That's me in the Plains back in the early 70's, towering over the whole dwarf forest, like Paul Bunyan!
 
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Pan

Explorer
Jul 4, 2011
554
246
Arizona
Here's another one of me in the Plains, Sep 22, 1971.
 

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Pan

Explorer
Jul 4, 2011
554
246
Arizona
May 1976 again
 

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Pan

Explorer
Jul 4, 2011
554
246
Arizona
1990 - the trees are already getting taller


PS I should have made a new thread - the changing Pine Barrens Plains...
 

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Pan

Explorer
Jul 4, 2011
554
246
Arizona
I photofixed the last one a bit. I guess the mod can move these pictures into a new thread...Sorry to hijack the bobwight thread...I remember those birds waking up in the morning camping, backpacking, out in the middle of the woods...or was that whipoorwills I remember? Duh. Whatever they were - they was boids, what's the difference? - they were quite cacophonous - and neat! - that morning, long ago.
 

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