Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!! As this is the time to reflect and be thankful for those around us, I wanted to start by stating how appreciative I am of having Linda and the boys as an important part of my life. We touch a little upon Linda’s influence from time to time here on the blog, but reality is she’s the main element that makes everything run smoothly behind the scenes and has a secret “nudge” talent that keeps me on the rails. I rarely leave the house without hearing “Make good choices!”. That warning has a fast decaying half-life the longer I am away, but definitely keeps me mindful during the early ultra-miles. Unfortunately, our parents have since passed, still thankful for the valuable life lessons they bestowed before going to a better place. Our older brothers (and their families) are always there to right our frowns, to act as our sounding boards and always quick with a hand whenever we need them. Our virtual family here at Intrigued are simply the best and there isn’t enough time to cover all the important work they do each and every day to make our multiple blogs and other endeavors successful. At the “gamble” it doesn’t go to their heads, yes, that includes our legal department – Brad has really whipped that group into shape and haven’t had a single complaint since regarding their former notorious office shenanigans ha!
Lastly, I wanted to extend a heartfelt thanks to all you out there that read our musings, bear through my rants and willing to offer us a kind like, a quick wit, key insights or additional information related to our posts. You are the reason Brad and I (and our editorial staff) can’t wait to share the next adventure from the field. We appreciate your time and wish you a safe and filling Thanksgiving holiday!
Speaking of “gambles”, how about we get to today’s featured feathered friend(s).
Hit the jump to read more about our Wild Turkey substitutes!
I am guessing you were expecting a much larger bird to be featured considering the holiday in all. To be honest, I would have, but for some reason it slipped my mind when we were on our annual snowbird trip to Texas. Every January we have made a stop at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in Mission, TX. In each of those visits I have taken many pictures of their local rafter of Wild Turkeys (link here, here, here for some examples). This year I was distracted by an opportunity to shoot a “rarity” that was hanging out there and simply snapped a few quick shots just to get the Turkey checked off my list – the results being so horrendous I would be ashamed to show you hehehe. It didn’t occur to me at the time I should have taken care to get something in the tin for the traditional Thanksgiving post – bad Bri!
The good news is Brad did provide much more worthy shots earlier in the year if you need your ’23 gobble fix (link here). Now, what I did have in the queue were shots of another game bird I am happy to share, the Gamble’s Quail.
For all you hardcore birders out there, I know, I know, I know about the name nuance. Just taking some liberties to provide a cohesive tie in with my intro. For those that may have missed it, these are NOT Gamble’s Quails, rather GambEL’s Quails. I could argue that I am technically not wrong on this slight alteration of the name. These small plumpy birds with the cute topknot were named after American naturalist/botanist/ornithologist William Gambel (1823-1849). Per Wikipedia, he is recognized as “the first botanist to collect specimens in Santa Fe, New Mexico and parts of California.
“Now for the rest of the story” (may have just dated myself if you get the reference). Our famous William Gambel was born William Gamble Jr.. Wikipedia is unable to provide a catalyst, but he simply started spelling his surname with the “el” order. I can relate as our ancestors dropped the ‘o-umlaut’ and added the first ‘e’.
Back to our adorable subjects. I’ve mentioned before that every time we are in Las Vegas we make sure to drop by Henderson’s Bird Viewing Center. That place is a bird magnet in the middle of the desert thanks to its several ponds. I have a list of “sure things” for all our trips – those birds I should have zero issues getting checked off. The Gambel’s is definitely on that list for Henderson….except for three days straight I didn’t see a one when we were there back in March. Stunned was an understatement. Spoiler alert, we found them on the 5th day (the ones in the Tree from the links above). The pressure was off by then, as they were spotted on the backside of Sunset Park the day before.
Normally it is work to get these ground birds in the tin. For those tiny little legs, they somehow turn Usain Bolt as they sprint from scrub to scrub. If you are not on them quick with a high shutter speed you are going to get some finger paintings in the tin. Best advice is to locate one of their high traffic areas and sit and wait for them to reveal themselves. Might want to practice your panning skills as well to help get those nimble trail runners fully stopped in motion.
This encounter at Sunset Park was a first for me. Linda and I were on our way out when we spotted a covey of Quail just off the parking lot. Jumped out (note to Bri, next time wait for Linda to get the car stopped) and slowly approached the group expecting a starter gun to go off and witness a blur of Quail in their latest carbon running shoes. Instead, just a few assurance glances, some waggles of topknot and back to meandering around. Now this was a privilege – a chance to get low and close on both cocks and hens.
Hope you enjoyed shots from this rather flat footed group of Quail. As my brother Ron would say, they joined his 0.0 mile running club.
Take care everyone, safe travels if you are heading out over the holiday, good spirits and thanks again for being there for us!
Wildlife Intrigued 
Wonderful shots of these cute birds! Happy Thanksgiving.
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Thank you Belinda. I was absolutely in shock the entire time I was shooting them that I wasn’t having to whip the big glass all over the place to get focus on one dashing between the scrub. Take care and appreciate you dropping in.
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Thanks to you and the whole Intrigued team for letting us tag along virtually!
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It is our pleasure Sam. Like you. the Intrigued family loves all things nature/wildlife and we are thrilled at the chance to show off our field work. Take care and really enjoying the fruits of your RGV trip. Always fun to be able to place yourself exactly where you are taking those wonderful pictures.
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Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for your wit, humor and wonderful photos. Those are adorable quail. I have never seen quail on our property, but 1/4 mile up the road, I will see a lot of quail. We have loamy soil on the property, but it’s sandy with sage brush up the road, and quail obviously prefer sand and sagebrush over loam.
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Thank you Tim – sometimes life just needs a smile and a good photo ha. Those Quail can be a quirky bunch and definitely prefer the sandy running trails. I think its due to their topknot getting all bungled up. As always, appreciate you coming by Tim.
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Beautiful shots, 👏👏👏
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Thank you Ted – one of those rare time when these hyper birds decided to give me time to get a decent shot ha. Appreciate you dropping in and hope you had a great Turkey day.
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Back at you and yours.
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Thanks
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Truly welcome.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
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Thank you Luisella!
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Happy Thanksgiving to you too.
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Thank you Sherry, hope you had an awesome Turkey day.
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Thanks for showing us these beautiful birds that we don’t have over here.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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You are very welcome Rudi! Always glad when we can introduce you to our NA birds. Appreciate you dropping in and take care over there.
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At first I thought I had tripped back in time to a 1970s show about a musical family that rode around in a Mondrian styled school bus, but I stand corrected. I like the little floof hats the quail are sporting. Maybe they can share a few ultra running trips. Very cute little birds.
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Now you are giving both our ages away hehehehe. I don’t know if they can share much on the “trip” front as they are a lot more sure footed than I am – funny coincidence, I was shooting Quail in Vegas when I slipped off the side of the sidewalk (about a foot drop) and proceeded to do an interpretive dance to try to save The Beast only to eventually lose it at the last second – one of the reasons for the overhaul ha. I hope no one has that on video ugh. Really hurt my ankle and knee doing that, but luckily not as severe as it could have been.
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I saw those shows in reruns years later, not original showings. hehehe
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Riiiiggghhhttt ha.
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I can never get enough of the Gambel’s quail, Brian, so I soaked up these lovely photos and the birds’ magnificent beauty. Enjoyed hearing about your encounter with them, too, as I have also found them wily and disappearing into the brush so quickly, whenever I have been in Gambel’s territory. Lovely Thanksgiving tribute and cheers to you and Brad and your crew. Many thanks for all your great photos and stories.
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Glad you enjoyed Jet – these plump ground runners are so cute with their topknot. One of those lucky times when I was in the right place at the right time – a flock of Quail that didn’t mind my big glass pointed at them – truly a rare experience as you are definitely aware. Always a pleasure when the Intrigued family can bring new adventures and experiences to our readers. Take care and appreciate you dropping by.
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The cartoon quail! I’ve only seen these once and it was a great experience.
Thanks for taking a gamble on showing us these beauties for Thanksgiving. Turkeys everywhere appreciate it.
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They are a fun bird to watch…usually not the most fun to try and get in the tin, but this group was definitely accommodating. Shhhh, don’t tell anyone, but the Wild Turkey lobby paid us off this year – whatchya gonna do, we have bills to pay hehehe. Take care Gini/Wally and hope you had a great Tur…sorry, Quail Day.
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The little “fob” makes me think of it wearing a French beret. Oui!!!
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Hahahaha, you are right..wonder if they have croissants for breakfast?!? Take care and thanks for dropping in Jerry (note, your site is one I am having a hard time commenting on – WP is being finicky these days for some unknown reason.
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I’ve had some WP issues in the past and eventually they cleared up. Don’t know if it was updating my laptop OS or something else. I never run the latest or newest. Takes a while for me to “catch up”.
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Smart move. I do have a new computer coming for my Christmas present – not looking forward to that ordeal at all.
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Gorgeous quail!!
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Sorry Donna, just found your comment in my Spam folder – there appears to be no end to my WP issues ugh. Glad you enjoyed reading about my Quail encounter – they are so darn cute! Appreciate you coming by and apologies again for the delayed response.
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No worries!
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Great job assembling these pics. I always enjoy seeing quail in their straight line dances across desert trails…but capturing them on film is a trick I’ve yet to master.
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Thank you Chuckster. Glad I could with everyone these clicks from Vegas. It always amazing me how fast these Quail are and ALWAYS miss the first couple just trying to whip the camera around fast enough to get a shot – luckily they tend to have several more in their flock giving me additional chances. Thanks for dropping in, appreciate it.
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