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.
Denne historien er fra Summer 2020-utgaven av The Upland Almanac.
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Denne historien er fra Summer 2020-utgaven av The Upland Almanac.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Tailfeathers
The essence of fly fishing, I think I've decided, is time.
Ten Questions with Tim Flagler, Fly Tyer/Cook Extraordinaire
Culinary Creations from Gordon Hamersley
GREY on the Wing
Hands clutching the wheel of a large, lumbering vehicle whose vintage and purpose partially prompted the invention of \"powering steering,\" disengaged the clutch and applied the brakes, bringing it to a stop.
James Purdey & Sons Ltd.One of London's "Best"
At the conclusion of a recent breakfast meeting of the Shrewsbury Men's Club of Massachusetts, I was packing up my show-and-tell aids after giving a presentation.
WAWAWAI
I don't chase chukars anymore, but from the time I was 16, chukar hunting had been my favorite bird hunting endeavor.
A FAIR EXCHANGE
Among the concerns faced by many small community gun clubs here in the Northeast is our inability to attract and maintain new and younger shooters.
Coming to Heel
I'n the world of gun dogs, it's not unusual that retrievers are taught to heel.
Bird Dogs - Health Matters
Avoiding Medical Mishaps on the Road
MATT HART
Matt Hart, owner, designer and artist of Hartist Metals, is a highly skilled metal sculptor based in the picturesque Catskill Mountains of New York.
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