Syracuse.com - Photo slide show: Bobwhite quail raising program at the Great Swamp Conservancy

[HuntingNY-News]

Michael Patane and his fellow volunteers at the nature center are not raising these birds for hunting. They've been at it for seven years, hoping to re-introduce them into the wild and get them re-established.

Staff photographer Jim Commentucci and I visited the Great Swamp Conservancy, just north of the village of Canastota Thursday and checked out the facilities bobwhite quail raising program, which is headed by Michael Patane.

Patane picked up some 1,000 chicks that morning and unloaded them before my eyes. It was fascinating. He also had three adult quail in a back cage so I could see the end result.

Patane and the nature center are not raising these birds for hunting. They've been at it for seven years, hoping to re-introduce them into the wild and get them re-established. The birds were once native to the Upstate area, but haven't been around for more than a century.

For more, see my story on Sunday's Outdoor page of The Post-Standard.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog