I have a 9 month old german shorthair and she seems to find coveys fine but has trouble finding singles. is this normal? Is it because there is less scent from a single then there would be a covey

It could be there is to much scent around for her to pin a single bird right away. if you move thru where the bird went to fast she may be going over them you might try getting to the marked spot and just milling around until she picks up on somthing but remember she's only 9 mos old she will get better the more she learns how the game is played.

Thewall_13, First off I have had quail just vanish, never have figured it out. And I saw them land and went straight there. Now for scent, quail don't have much to start with, so if they lock down in cover the dog may not ever get the scent. If they move the dog will get it. If you have low humidity and a non-moving small bird there may not be any scent to get. Another thing, your GSP isn't old enough to have the experience and could go away from the scent. Go slow and easy for your dog, she will get it in time. If you bust a covey, call her back and give her time to settle down, she is pumped up! Then go look. If she finds them great, if not go look for another covey. She is just a baby.
Gselkhunter

First of all like mentioned above, your GSP is young and most likely has not had enough experience. Second, what I've always done (especially with young dogs) is to try and mark a few singles (easier to do with more than one person hunting) so you know the general area to take your dog to in order to find them. But before I go tromping over to the marked spot where I think the single is, I give the bird(s) some time to settle down and produce some scent. If you rush over to the singles immediately there won't be much scent for your dog to find. Lastly, I don't like to brag but I have two very good dogs (especially the older one when he was in his younger years) and I have spotted singles and cast the dogs towards them and absolutely could not find them. It just happens sometimes. Best advice is to work your dog as much as possible and keep it under control (i.e. don't let it run wild once the covey flushes). Good luck to you!

EDIT: sorry, I think I kind of summed up the previous post...it's late and I didn't feel like reading through the other 2 whole posts.

Quail in singles are known to sit tight, real tight. I have had to step on them before they flush. And with a young dog, he may simply pass over that bird. Keep workin, he'll catch on.

I’m sure she is going to work out fine but how about a little history on how she was trained. Did you buy her as a started pup, bring her to a trainer or did you train her yourself. I don’t know where you are located but you might have to spend some money on birds and plant them with there location marked . Try to lead her in slow if the birds break it may be back to the check cord. I did a lot of training with quail because it was cheap. Best thing is to keep her on plenty of birds in first season