[Birdnet] Scaled quail still there in Montezuma Cyn

[David Wheeler]

Yesterday, Larene & I made a mad dash to Montezuma Cyn SW of Blanding to "bag" the three Scaled quail described by Dennis Shirley last week.  (Thank you again, Dennis!)

Note that Both Larene and I independently got someone (else) to plot the GPS coordinates provided by Dennis and found it to be a couple miles off (west of) from the area of the quail draw.

>>So..., my advice is, DON'T FOLLOW THE GPS COORDINATES, but DO follow the excellent directions provided by Dennis.

The quail were in the southern part of the same draw that was described so well by Dennis.  This spot is very approximately half way to the white seep from the main Montezuma Canyon road, but across (south of) the mini arroyo that bisects the draw.  I will try to send some photos to Milt tomorrow showing the area.  The quail were in the saltbrush-like plants (look sort of like sagebrush) at the base of the southern slope of boulders when we first encountered them.  They then ran up into the junipers amid the boulders on the slope at our approach.  The lucky thing was that they started calling just after Larene walked passed them, either in response to our presence or the tape we'd played nearby a bit earlier.  (The call was the two-note call, like the first one found on the Stokes tape)

The roads were dry.  There was no snow in the area, as last week's storm hit just to the north.

I will try to post some photos tomorrow.  This was a lifer for Larene, so there was mirth all around.  The quail are gorgeous.  Good luck to those who follow.

Happy birding,

David Wheeler