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Hi Birders,
The question has been asked as to how to search for
King Quail and the answer is, with a well trained quail (gun) dog!
Many years ago, almost in another life, I was
involved in quail studies with the Divison of Wildlife Research CSIRO. I had my
trusty German Shorthaired Pointer to point and then retrieve the quail shot!
However the dog was just as effective finding the birds when you did not
need to shoot them, for as on command, the dog would flush the bird it was
pointing and the quail would fly off, and the dog would give you a very
reproachful look but not chase the bird! I was able to use this method to find
King Quail in lucerne paddocks in the Kyogle District, about the only area I
ever found King Quail in the field. I ofcourse found plenty of Stubble, Brown,
Red-chested & Little Button-quail in the grasslands and wheat stubbles of
NSW. I would suggest that using a well trained pointer/retriever, could be the
answer to seeing if King Quail were present in areas of French
Island.
From my expereince, the method of dragging a rope
between two people is not that effective because some of the quail will
run ahead of you and so don't necessarily flush because they have
gone.
Alan Morris
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