Mountain Quail is slowly but surely creeping towards Ivory-billed Woodpecker status. You want to believe but deep in your gut you know it’s all fantasy! Yes we missed Mountain Quail today despite an all day search of the Mt. Pinos area. California Quail yes but no Mountain Quail. So I bid Don and Kathy Desjardin adieu, thanked them for the gracious hospitality and drove to Mojave. Tomorrow I try Butterbredt Springs, a famous birding hotspot in the high desert. Called Jon Dunn today and he thinks the quail will be calling tomorrow morning. Ill keep you updated.
By the way, Don Desjardin’s website is the top spot to view high quality video of Southern California birds. I highly recommend it and it can be reached at http://www.birdsdesjardin.com
Stay tuned.
Congratulations, John, on reaching the 50% milestone!
As for Mountain Quail, as a kid growing up in Southern California, I knew enough about birds to identify Mountain Quail in Sequoia Nat’l Park during a family camping trip. But back then I didn’t know a single birder and certainly didn’t keep a list. So when I officially became a birder as a young man, I didn’t feel I could list Mountain Quail. After all, I couldn’t even narrow it down to the year of that trip. Anyway, roughly 40 years later, I finally got my quail last summer while birding in California north of Lake Tahoe. So, I felt your pain, and hope that you get your bird today!