Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!! As this is the time to reflect and be thankful for those around us, I wanted to start by stating how appreciative I am of having Linda and the boys as an important part of my life. We touch a little upon Linda’s influence from time to time here on the blog, but reality is she’s the main element that makes everything run smoothly behind the scenes and has a secret “nudge” talent that keeps me on the rails. I rarely leave the house without hearing “Make good choices!”. That warning has a fast decaying half-life the longer I am away, but definitely keeps me mindful during the early ultra-miles. Unfortunately, our parents have since passed, still thankful for the valuable life lessons they bestowed before going to a better place. Our older brothers (and their families) are always there to right our frowns, to act as our sounding boards and always quick with a hand whenever we need them. Our virtual family here at Intrigued are simply the best and there isn’t enough time to cover all the important work they do each and every day to make our multiple blogs and other endeavors successful. At the “gamble” it doesn’t go to their heads, yes, that includes our legal department – Brad has really whipped that group into shape and haven’t had a single complaint since regarding their former notorious office shenanigans ha!
Lastly, I wanted to extend a heartfelt thanks to all you out there that read our musings, bear through my rants and willing to offer us a kind like, a quick wit, key insights or additional information related to our posts. You are the reason Brad and I (and our editorial staff) can’t wait to share the next adventure from the field. We appreciate your time and wish you a safe and filling Thanksgiving holiday!
Speaking of “gambles”, how about we get to today’s featured feathered friend(s).
Hit the jump to read more about our Wild Turkey substitutes!
I am guessing you were expecting a much larger bird to be featured considering the holiday in all. To be honest, I would have, but for some reason it slipped my mind when we were on our annual snowbird trip to Texas. Every January we have made a stop at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in Mission, TX. In each of those visits I have taken many pictures of their local rafter of Wild Turkeys (link here, here, here for some examples). This year I was distracted by an opportunity to shoot a “rarity” that was hanging out there and simply snapped a few quick shots just to get the Turkey checked off my list – the results being so horrendous I would be ashamed to show you hehehe. It didn’t occur to me at the time I should have taken care to get something in the tin for the traditional Thanksgiving post – bad Bri!
The good news is Brad did provide much more worthy shots earlier in the year if you need your ’23 gobble fix (link here). Now, what I did have in the queue were shots of another game bird I am happy to share, the Gamble’s Quail.
For all you hardcore birders out there, I know, I know, I know about the name nuance. Just taking some liberties to provide a cohesive tie in with my intro. For those that may have missed it, these are NOT Gamble’s Quails, rather GambEL’s Quails. I could argue that I am technically not wrong on this slight alteration of the name. These small plumpy birds with the cute topknot were named after American naturalist/botanist/ornithologist William Gambel (1823-1849). Per Wikipedia, he is recognized as “the first botanist to collect specimens in Santa Fe, New Mexico and parts of California.
“Now for the rest of the story” (may have just dated myself if you get the reference). Our famous William Gambel was born William Gamble Jr.. Wikipedia is unable to provide a catalyst, but he simply started spelling his surname with the “el” order. I can relate as our ancestors dropped the ‘o-umlaut’ and added the first ‘e’.
Back to our adorable subjects. I’ve mentioned before that every time we are in Las Vegas we make sure to drop by Henderson’s Bird Viewing Center. That place is a bird magnet in the middle of the desert thanks to its several ponds. I have a list of “sure things” for all our trips – those birds I should have zero issues getting checked off. The Gambel’s is definitely on that list for Henderson….except for three days straight I didn’t see a one when we were there back in March. Stunned was an understatement. Spoiler alert, we found them on the 5th day (the ones in the Tree from the links above). The pressure was off by then, as they were spotted on the backside of Sunset Park the day before.
Normally it is work to get these ground birds in the tin. For those tiny little legs, they somehow turn Usain Bolt as they sprint from scrub to scrub. If you are not on them quick with a high shutter speed you are going to get some finger paintings in the tin. Best advice is to locate one of their high traffic areas and sit and wait for them to reveal themselves. Might want to practice your panning skills as well to help get those nimble trail runners fully stopped in motion.
This encounter at Sunset Park was a first for me. Linda and I were on our way out when we spotted a covey of Quail just off the parking lot. Jumped out (note to Bri, next time wait for Linda to get the car stopped) and slowly approached the group expecting a starter gun to go off and witness a blur of Quail in their latest carbon running shoes. Instead, just a few assurance glances, some waggles of topknot and back to meandering around. Now this was a privilege – a chance to get low and close on both cocks and hens.
Hope you enjoyed shots from this rather flat footed group of Quail. As my brother Ron would say, they joined his 0.0 mile running club.
Take care everyone, safe travels if you are heading out over the holiday, good spirits and thanks again for being there for us!
Life Intrigued 