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Shell’s Covert: No Wasted Words

Writing for some of us who are not gifted speakers, or ad libbers, is a way to communicate and convey our ideas and emotions. But it seems more and more if words are not written in short bursts of text, or attached to a meme, people don’t seem to have time for them these days. Thus, here is a BLOG that is mainly photos.

Smoke (from a well-planned prescribed burn), the smell of quail habitat being created in the morning, it smells like…victory.
Get serious or get lost – open those pines up for wildlife.
Have you hugged a weed today? This is what a weedy field border looks like.
This is what ragweed looks like in winter. Excellent brood rearing cover has now become excellent winter food. Studies in Virginia showed ragweed made up a huge portion of the quail diet, in November, December and even into January it still made up 10% of their food. On an ounce-by-ounce basis it is more nutritious than corn.
Thickets, thickets and more thickets – if you don’t have them, you won’t have quail for long.
This is what a quail covert looks like on the inside, open enough for them to move around and loaf, but protected from aerial predators. This is the “guts” of a plum thicket.

Marc Puckett

Photo by Meghan Marchetti, VDWR

Marc Puckett is a Small Game Project Leader with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (VDWR).

Marc has worked with VDWR for 25+ years. He currently serves as the small game project co-leader. He was involved in several quail studies, including for his master’s degree at NCSU. He served his country for four years in the US Army’s Airborne Infantry. Marc resides with his family on a farm in central Virginia.

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