Friday, January 28, 2011

Gambel's Quail

I'm in Las Vegas on business and had the morning free today, so I decided to visit Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve as it has great reviews on the internet. It's similar to Fernhill Wetlands except it's in the desert.
The place was loaded with ducks and grebes, most of which I'm used to seeing in the Portland area. Especially this time of year.
The more interesting birds were the passeriformes I saw. They include Verdins, Say's and Black Phoebes, Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, a Crissal Thrasher and a possible Cassin's Kingbird. I'll be posting them as I work through the images, but I want to start with the Gambel's Quail I saw.
They were the first birds I saw. They greeted me on the road leading to the parking lot in front of the visitor's center. I only got mediocre pictures of them at that point, including some of them in a tree. It seemed odd to see Quail in a tree. I'm not sure if that is typical for other Quail.
I ran across more of the Quail as I walked the many trails around the ponds of water. They are hard to get good shots of as they run along the ground and hide in any brush they can find. I did manage to get a good shot of the one above as my day was coming to an end. It was perched in a tree, which seemed to be about the only thing that would keep them still.

1 comment:

  1. I'm just catching up on all your recent posts... wow!! You saw some amazing birds in Nevada!

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