A Birder's Life for Me

This morning, we left Alpine, TX before dawn heading to Davis Mountains State Park in search of Cassin's Kingbird and Montezuma Quail.  We counted 18 Easter bunnies (aka Jackrabbits) feeding on the roadside grasses in the pre-dawn darkness.

After arriving at the park, we quickly heard the Cassin's Kingbird singing away as dawn arrived.  I took one picture of the kingbird at a very slow shutter speed for documentation only.  The bird was too high in the tree and there was not enough light to allow for a good picture.  Normally, this is no big deal but, this blunder affected what happened next.

After failing to see the quails at the feeding station adjacent to where we saw the kingbird, we quickly made our way to the park's other bird blind hoping for better luck.  As we parked the car, we could see that this blind was already stuffed with birdwatchers.  As I approached the blind hoping to weasel my way into a decent spot, I saw the Montezuma Quails headed for the feeding area behind the blind.

Now, you don't just park your car and walk up to a blind and immediately find Montezuma Quail.  You just don't.  But we did.  So, in the excitement and the commotion of trying to get into a position where I could shoot through one of the holes in the blind, and the other folks going bananas in a very hush, hush way,  I completely forgot to adjust the shutter speed on my camera.  On top of that, we left the scene giddy over the fact that we had actually seen the quails and gotten really good pictures without actually checking them closely.   As my son would say, "What a newb."

So, here is the best I've got of this amazing quail.   I will be back for more with a camera set to a faster shutter speed. 

I realized my mistake when I was photographing the Yellow-headed Blackbirds we found in Junction, TX.  I couldn't figure out why my shots were out of focus.  Then came the 'a-ha moment' followed by the 'oh-crap' moment' as I realized my quail photos were not going to be what I was expecting.

We also added a Cinnamon Teal in Junction, TX to  make our final Texas trip results:

196 total species

73 new species for 2025 / 347 YTD

4 lifer birds  / 548 All-time

The male Cinnamon Teal was too far away for good photos but, here is a look at this colorful duck from a previous trip to Arizona.

Now it's back to Key West to chase the warblers that are now showing up at Fort Zachary Taylor.  The Least Terns and the Gray Kingbirds have arrived in Key West. The spring migration is officially on.