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 Donald collects the GPS locations of the markers along his 10-mile quail index transect. It was my job as one of the cooperators to gather and record the data from our ranch and send it to Dr. Rollins. The TQI evaluated several factors in hopes of predicting not only the causes of quail decline, but also the management strategies needed to reverse it. However, I hypothesized that the most important factor affecting quail population size would be the weather. My reasoning was that before humans were present, weather was the only factor that affected quail abundance. All the other factors depended on the weather as well. Our rainfall totals for the past five years had been below the norm, and our land was depleted of the plant life that is vital to quail survival. I'm not the only cooperator working in Callahan County. Working with me are my father and mother, Jay and Nancy Capra, and my two sisters, Sarah and Hannah. We enlisted the County Extension Agent, Robert Pritz, for his expertise in plant identification and support. We maintained a rigorous schedule, and followed the protocols and timeline developed by Dr. Rollins. I hope that what follows will give you a taste of my experiences in the field, in pursuit of a bird that I respect and treasure. The TQI is designed as a series of experiments and surveys that allow us to track certain factors that affect quail. Those factors include weather, forb diversity, nesting site availability, nesting success, breeding intensity, covey numbers, predator density and diversity, and overall quail abundance. I performed these experiments at the same time of the year as the other cooperators. This allowed for continuity in the results across the state. The timeline was developed around the quail's biological cycle during the year. An example would be the spring mating-call counts. The bobwhite rooster only makes this call during the breeding season, which is April through July. Because of parameters like this, the cooperators were busy year-round. |
The location where I collected all our data was the Spring Gap Ranch in Callahan County, near Cottonwood, Texas. It was named for the natural springs that the settlers used when they traveled across a portion of the land between two hill ranges known as the gap. The land has been used for cattle ranching and some recreational hunting. My grandfather has always managed the land in a manner that benefits both wildlife and cattle. The terrain consists of rolling hills with many deep draws and canyons. It is covered with a wide diversity of plants, with the major brush species being juniper, scrub oak, live oak, mesquite, and flame leaf sumac. A known flaw in the plant diversity is the tremendous amount of juniper on the ranch. We already employed a skid loader with shears on the front in a year-round effort to take out these water-robbing plants. I began this project on April 25, 2002, in San Angelo, Texas. It was at this time that both my mother and I went through the cooperator training. This was very important because we were trained in the methods and techniques we would use to perform the surveys and experiments. The protocols were taught in order to sustain scientific integrity. The afternoon was spent in the field, where we learned to identify the key food and cover-plant species necessary for quail to thrive.  A hula hoop is used to conduct a forb diversity survey. This sample includes prickly pear, coreopsis, burr clover, blue sage, and Texas stork's bill. I was encouraged and excited to set up our TQI transect on the Spring Gap Ranch. This was probably my most important decision during my experiment because all measurements would be made in its immediate vicinity. The transect was a 10-mile-long line with a marker at the beginning and one at every mile after that. Each mile marker was given a number from zero to 10, to create 11 stations as data collection points. It was important when we set up the trail that we didn't double back too much or cross our lines. I was able to follow roads that already existed on the ranch. Once I had planned where the transect would run, I had to go out and drive T-posts into the ground and set up our mile markers. |
