Ground Birds: Quail

We are working our way through the Ground Birds and coming to the Quail.

Gambel's Quail Male

Gambel's Quail: Female

Montezuma's Quail: Female

Montezuma's Quail: Male

Scaled Quail: Female

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

After wandering around Arivaca Cienegas, I headed over to the main "campus" of Buenos Aires NWR. I was hoping to find some Pronghorn, but with 117,500 acres it is not always in the cards. However, I did find a few things to photograph. One was an Ornate Box Turtle. This is an endangered  turtle and well protected by the State of Arizona. So it was a nice find. Also a Scaled Quail posed for me -- as did a nice Western Kingbird:

Ornate Box Turtle

Female Scaled Quail

Western Kingbird

Lake Cochise

June is the hottest month of the year in Tucson and we don't get a lot of guests. So, off I went at 4:30 this morning. Unfortunately, Arizona has several fires going right now and most of the mountain ranges are closed. That being the case I headed out to Lake Cochise, Whitewater Draw, and Ash Canyon. Lake Cochise is near the town of Willcox in Southeast Arizona. It is the last town before heading East to the Chiricahuas  or North to the Galiuros. The town itself always seems deserted -- a great many closed and boarded up buildings, motels, etc. Willcox is famous for some produce, especially its tomatoes. Lake Cochise is just outside of town heading to Chiricahua National Monument. The lake is hard to predict, though -- especially in the summer. But I found some American Avocets, a couple of Black Necked Stilts, Killdeer, White Faced Ibis, Scaled Quail, and a couple of Black Tail Jackrabbits. 

American Avocets

White Faced Ibis

Scaled Quail

Black Tailed Jackrabbit

Back to Ground Birds

The Scaled Quail is a resident of Central Mexico, Southeastern Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas, and north into Colorado, Kansas, and Western Oklahoma. They typically are found in arid, brushy grasslands. Although not quite as colorful as their cousins the California Quail and Gambel's Quail, they are intricately scaled -- hence the name. The female lays 9 to 16 speckled eggs. When in danger they prefer to run rather than fly, so they are sometimes taken by coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. They are most often taken by Harrier and Red Tail Hawks. The photos below were taken near Willcox, Arizona (Lake Cochise area):

Still More from Lake Cochise

The best time at Lake Cochise is early spring and fall. This is when the most birds migrate through Arizona. There are some who stay for the winter. Few, though, stay for the Summer. However, the surrounding are is year round home to a few species such as this Scaled Quail and this Western Kingbird:.

Scaled Quail

Western Kingbird