Male Northern Bobwhite, Durango, Iowa
I had actually planned to continue with more photos from our trip through the badlands of the Dakotas and eastern Montana but yesterday the sighting of a Northern Bobwhite got me all excited. The first and last time I had one of these “New World Quails” in front of the lens was in May 2007, just a month after I started shooting seriously digital with a Nikon D200. The Cornell Lab Website ALL ABOUT BIRDS writes: Bobwhites have been in sharp decline throughout the past half-century, likely owing to habitat loss and changes in agriculture, and they are an increasingly high priority for conservation. I guess I can confirm the fact of decline in population!
The bird is easy to identify and when I saw this male crossing the road while driving downhill into our valley I hit the brakes hard. Driving with the camera in my lap and the bobwhite posing nicely for a few seconds, I got the shot. Unfortunately I had only 200 mm focal length, hence that cropping of the photo was employed.
This wasn’t really far from our neighborhood and I wonder if the population of the Northern Bobwhite here is larger than I thought. I’ll keep my eyes open…