In a recent blog post I bellyached about driving 240 miles over five hours and not finding a single cooperative bird. I sure didn’t have that problem yesterday at Farmington.
We considered our friends Ron and Carol to be “the guardians of the refuge” because they lived right next to the entrance and for years they even opened the refuge gate every morning so we got to know them well and liked them very much. They kept tabs on what was going on in the area, they were very protective of the birds and their yard was a haven for them, by design. Sadly they moved out-of-state some months ago but we can still photograph birds in parts of their yard from my pickup as we’re leaving the refuge. Yesterday morning was slow for birds in the wetlands but Ron and Carol’s fence provided a bevy of California Quail as I was heading for home.
Over the last couple of years I’ve developed a strong aversion for the color orange so this fence color grates on me a bit. The stain on the fence has weathered to orange so I have to try to look past the color and concentrate on the birds. And I’m not kidding.
Sorry, no image techs today. Once again I ran out of time.
To get a clear look at the quail I had to get a little too close for my big lens so the birds in these first couple of shots are a little tight. This fella may have been a sentry.
Brotherly love seemed to be the order of the day – these two males appeared to be very cozy with each other. Because of the tightness and because I was having trouble getting two or more birds sharp at the long focal length of my 500mm lens I switched to…
my smaller zoom lens for much of the time and that gave me more pleasing compositions and sharper birds. I wish we could see more of the bill of the male on the right but I like the intimacy of their behavior with each other.
But it wasn’t all male-male bonding. Here we have a male on the right and a female on the left.
I like this photo because of the interesting foot posture of the female but especially because it provides such a good comparison of the sexes.
This was the scene that greeted me when I first pulled up on the quail and there was a bunch more of them on the ground below the fence. I don’t recall ever having the opportunity to photograph so many quail at one sitting. Between trying to decide which bird(s) to focus on and which lens to use I was in a photographic frenzy.
I’ve posted this photo at a larger size (1200 pixels on the long side instead of my usual 900) because it includes so many birds and I wanted each one to have a little more detail.
So thank you, Ron and Carol. Even after you’ve moved away your many years of bird-nurturing continues to serve both your bird photographer friends back “home” and the birds themselves.
Ron
WOW! WOW! Those are the most spectacular quail shots I’ve ever seen!!!
Charlotte
Just got to view this group of California Quail. What great pictures you captured. I just want to pick up the round balls and hug and pet them. lol
Beautiful, just beautiful!
Sorry I’m late today. Terrible weather + getting ready for Thanksgiving. Got the Champagne iced for a toast to the election. Would have two bottles if the senate had gone as well!
Oh well can’t win em all.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and Mia, and everyone else on your blog!
Thanks, Dick. Hell, I’d have helped myself to an entire case of the bubbly if the senate had turned out better.
I love quail! What a nice surprise to see so many California Quail which we do not have here in the Phoenix area. Right now I see a covey of Gambel’s Quail of between 16 and 22 individuals every day in my backyard! I enjoy hearing the quail cackle in the morning, just like chickens!
Pat, I only see Gambel’s Quail on my trips to southern Utah and I haven’t seen any for some time.
Once again evolution mystifies with those forehead(?) plumes. Rally nice shots, Ron; as already commented, seems a very seasonal subject.
Yeah, those head plumes make you wonder, don’t they, Lyle. Sexual ornaments is my guess…
I really enjoy the Calif. Quail. We get them in our yard sometimes, and see them often in the Desert. Lovely photos. Happy Thanksgiving for those who celebrate!
Thank you, Jean.
These little guys are about as cute as they can get…I was very surprised how small they are when I first saw a bunch of them checking out a picnic table in a camp ground…couldn’t get over how small they were…or how cute…HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
You too, Patty. Thank you.
California Quail are one of my favorite birds. We must have seen 25 of them under the feeder in our back yard yesterday. They get spooked easily and run off only to come back a few minutes later. I love the sounds they make. They run everywhere, not much walking.
Thank you for the treat to see these beautiful birds. They look cold but I would be too at 19 degrees.
Have a good holiday, Ron
“I love the sounds they make”
As do I, Alice. A lone male will often sit in the tree outside my bedroom window and call enthusiastically for a long time. He’s only about 6′ from me and I love watching and listening to him.
Ron, I’ll try to send some of them to your yard since I think we live close!!
Great shots Ron. I want to thankyou for describing the Farmington and Bear River waterfowl areas where much of your photography is done. My wife retires soon from a job in the Washington DC area and I offered to drive her car cross country to our new home in Oregon last week and made a point of visiting both locations. It was quite fun to visit all the places you write about and photograph and also see the birds residing there, if only seasonally. Two days ago there were a number of ibis close to the road at Farmington – hope you were able to photograph them as well. I now have a better appreciation for why those places provide great photographic opportunities.
Those Ibis have been there for most of the week, Jim – along with lots of Greater Yellowlegs. I wish they were slightly closer though.
I’m glad you enjoyed “my” refuges… 🙂
Second-to-last looks like “Fine!” Lol
I had a similar thought, Arwen.
Your last picture of the “line up” of quail is really beautiful . For me, it is quite unusual to see a group of birds that are prettier than a single one. Great work! Too bad about Ron and Carol. Another example of nothing is forever. Happy Thanksgiving. John
We miss Ron and Carol a lot, John. They walked together most mornings and we’d often stop and talk to them. Good people.
Beautiful light, the orange fence adds to the warm glow. I am not fond of the color orange either, I thought it was a red-head thing. We don’t look good in orange either.
I am happy to see more quail starting to gather in my yard. I usually have a large flock but I did not have many this summer and I did not see any baby quail. I think there have been too many preditors and habitat changes.
April, I used to see quite a few quail broods in my neighborhood, and in my yard, some years ago but I seldom see them anymore.
I think the second and fifth shots are my favorites — something about the two birds looking in opposite directions appeals to me. The last shot made me giggle a little too — they’re all lined up, but two of the birds didn’t get the memo as to which way to turn. The interesting behaviors and poses make up for the orange fence. 😉
“something about the two birds looking in opposite directions appeals to me”
I heartily agree, Marty. I like that shot very much.
What absolute charmers. And how I wish my brothers got on a fraction as well as the pair you showed.
Good point, EC – sibling rivalry ruins a lot of those types of relationships in humans.
Beautiful Ron. They really have a Thanksgiving look to them. At least looking at these photos they seem to be a little chubbier and more colorful than our Gambel’s Quails. Happy Thanksgiving greetings to you and your family.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
Everett, I think their chubby appearance was mostly because they were puffed up to keep warm. It was 18 degrees at the refuge shortly before these photos were taken.
Love these little guys. I have many in my yard under the bird feeder. They do a great clean up job. When disturbed they fly into the spruce tree in my yard, onto my roof or the neighbors roof. It is amazing how fast they can fly. I love having them around and hearing them. There is several places in my flowers beds where they do their dust baths. I’ve had nests in my yard as well. Once with 16 eggs. Great pictures. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Sounds like you really enjoy your quail, Betty. I’m envious because I don’t see them as often as I used to.
What a wonderful series of images………one thing I miss about living in Prescott ( Everett will know about this ) are the ubiquitous coveys of quail in the foothills around town–
they’re as common as javelinas, but MUCH MORE endearing and fascinating—but I’ve never seen intimate interactions between individuals like these you’ve captured ! Thanks
for a look into their social lives.
Thanks, Kris. I’m thinking your Arizona quail might be Gambel’s Quail? The two species look quite similar.
Ah………. 🙂 🙂 🙂 What wonderful, cute birds! Cool to be able to find a covy and get them to cooperate! The orange is a bit much BUT it does set off the quail nicely – a bit more time and weathering and…….. 😉 Don’t recall ever seeing quail off the ground like that – of course, on the prairie…… Big game season on the downhill side here. Farmers will be gritting their teeth over a couple of REALLY rutted up roads that were too wet to be on but some had to do it anyway. “Coolie crawlers” are exhausted from retrieving their prize in this area but good meat for the freezer for some and “tales to tell” for the antler hunters 😉
Judy, those folks who love to tear up muddy dirt roads, hunters and otherwise, really piss me off! Those roads are then a mess for weeks or months after they dry.
Very nice shots, Ron! While in California on vacation, I photographed a single California Quail adult with chicks. I had mistakenly jumped to the assumption that the adult was a female, but now I see that it was a male. So is it normal for the parents to trade off supervising their precocial offspring?
Thanks, David. Yes, this species often forms communal broods of young.
If I had to name this post today…’Delightful’!❤️ Love the last photo…what a committee to great you and wish you adieu. And your comparison photo is perfect. By the way…that orange is not too bad with the edge weathering and fading but it sure would be overwhelming if it were darker. Orange had never been a favorite for me either.🤪 No signs of the ShortEars here since I saw them on 10/22 nor the Rough-Legged Hawks. Bow and now gun hunting in the vicinity of the marsh I think has keep them away…too many trucks flying and I do mean flying up and down the roads!
Thanks, Kathy. I know what you mean about hunter’s trucks flying. At Farmington at least as often as not they’re going too fast and many of them are pulling airboats so on that washboard road they make as much noise as a half-dozen approaching freight trains. And then there’s the dust they create. And their bad timing – often just after I get a bird in my viewfinder.