![Fields of Dreams](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/7434/427529/5e82f48f5c6b2/Fields-of-Dreams.jpg)
Before you make it across the four-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge from Maryland’s Anne Arundel County to its rural Eastern Shore, the birds are impossible to overlook: kamikaze seagulls weave between the cables, stoic cormorants atop them. Beyond the bridge, as farmland spreads out before you like a lavish feast, the reliable denizens of the fields appear — turkey vultures, egrets and Canada geese (don’t be fooled — some of those are decoys). Turn down the country lanes that divvy up the land and you’ll dodge doves, bluebirds and mockingbirds as they dart across the road. Above, incoming or outgoing flocks remain distant scribbles on a blue canvas of sky. If you were taking an avian roll call, it seems there’d be a checkmark by all the big local names — except for one notable exception: the prince of game birds, the bobwhite quail.
Quail used to be abundant here, and quail hunting was as beloved a cultural tradition as crabbing. Now, conservationists are hoping to bring the quail back to the Shore through efforts that could have far-reaching benefits down the roster and for the Chesapeake Bay.
A Familiar Story
It’s not just the quail. A lot of things have changed on the Shore. After the bridge was completed in 1952, development spread like a bad cold in an elementary school. Mirroring the national trend, agriculture shifted from orchards to dairies to animal feed, from family farms to factory farms. Hedgerows and riparian buffers gave way to fencerow-to-fencerow planting, with crops doused in potent chemicals.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Summer 2020-Ausgabe von The Upland Almanac.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Summer 2020-Ausgabe von The Upland Almanac.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
![Luigi Franchi Imperial Monte Carlo Extra: One of Italy's "Best" SxS Doubles](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/0SAiBgwJa1690522419485/LUIGI-FRANCHI-IMPERIAL-MONTE-CARLO-EXTRA-ONE-OF-ITALYS-BEST-SXS-DOUBLES.jpg)
Luigi Franchi Imperial Monte Carlo Extra: One of Italy's "Best" SxS Doubles
As on London’s gun-maker’s row, Italians had skilled craftsmen who made “Best” guns of superb quality
![An Upland Bird Hunter's Equipment in Need and Equipment Indeed...](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/0h6ZDlgeW1690522171927/AN-UPLAND-BIRD-HUNTERS-EQUIPMENT-IN-NEED-AND-EQUIPMENT-INDEED.jpg)
An Upland Bird Hunter's Equipment in Need and Equipment Indeed...
From the first year I discovered upland bird hunting in my early teens, my search for the right clothing and equipment began in earnest. All you need to see to support this reality is to look at all the upland clothing and equipment I have stored from ceiling to floor in my garage and sportsman’s closet downstairs
![Day's End - Making memories](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/EeU72KbeV1690521830955/DAYS-END-MAKING-MEMORIES.jpg)
Day's End - Making memories
Has there ever been a bird dog man or woman with a soul so dead that he or she has not been re-energized by the first cool days of September, by the first forecast of frost, by noting the opening days marked on the calendar so many months before?
![A SIMPLE PLEASURE: THE HUNT LUNCH](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/4Mz1sXXwx1690521511022/A-SIMPLE-PLEASURE-THE-HUNT-LUNCH.jpg)
A SIMPLE PLEASURE: THE HUNT LUNCH
In William Harnden Foster’s classic book, New England Grouse Shooting (1942), for which he wrote the text and provided numerous black-and-white sketches, he includes a wide-ranging catch-all chapter called “Grouse Shooting Outfits
![PACKING for Success](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/l4XBowtsD1690520861758/PACKING-FOR-SUCCESS.jpg)
PACKING for Success
I spend a lot of time these days chasing game birds. But it hasn’t always been this way
![Shooting FAST and SLOW](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/gjwqXIrYF1690520647592/SHOOTING-FAST-AND-SLOW.jpg)
Shooting FAST and SLOW
Scientists have recently discovered that human brains operate in two settings – a fast, reactionary “fight or flight” mode (System 1) and a slow, considered, contemplative mode (System 2)
![Private Lands, Public Access](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/2sl_j_sBx1690520520826/PRIVATE-LANDS-PUBLIC-ACCESS.jpg)
Private Lands, Public Access
“Just what lies behind that fence?”
![Early Season - GREATER PRAIRIE CHICKEN HUNTING](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/ZoKkc9gSo1690520053991/EARLY-SEASON-GREATER-PRAIRIE-CHICKEN-HUNTING.jpg)
Early Season - GREATER PRAIRIE CHICKEN HUNTING
Greater prairie chickens are tailor-made for early fall gunning. Young birds hatch early enough to be nearly full-grown by September, offering lots of potential targets in good habitat
![QUAIL Struggle to Survive a Multitude of KILLERS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/-l8cK61yV1690519328990/QUAIL-STRUGGLE-TO-SURVIVE-A-MULTITUDE-OF-KILLERS.jpg)
QUAIL Struggle to Survive a Multitude of KILLERS
By some estimates, the wild bobwhite population in the U.S. has declined 70 to 80% since the 1960s
![Journeys Shared: A Worcester Letter](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/7434/1351870/LVBmlYdlV1690519046706/JOURNEYS-SHARED-A-WORCESTER-LETTER.jpg)
Journeys Shared: A Worcester Letter
Hi Bob, Just finished the sensational roller coaster “memoir-style” essays of man and bird dog(s) that you and Dave Smith assembled and put into print