Common Quail - The Impossible Photography Subject....?
24th May 2019
Early in the morning, three days ago, I went out into my garden to get something from my car. The morning was still with little bird song but suddenly an uncommon bird’s call stopped me in my tracks. I thought ‘What on earth is that’? And then it dawned on me that it was a Common Quail singing from the winter barley field below my garden.
Common by name but not by nature, these highly elusive migrants from the continent usually arrive in June in small numbers and around here they are rarely heard and even less rarely seen! The last bird heard was about eight years ago, so an unusual event for this area. I telephoned the county bird recorder who lives locally and on his arrival we both heard the bird singing clearly. However, we both realised with a dose of reality that although it was very nice to hear this rare bird, a sighting was totally unrealistic because Quail are notoriously difficult to see, spending all of their time hidden in typically, a barley crop.
The following day Susan and I were out in the garden and it was obvious to us that this Quail was singing outside the barley field where I first heard it. It was very close to our house and with the chance of a probable once in a lifetime sighting on the cards I again telephoned the county recorder and another of our birding friends and asked them to come over and walk in the field where the obvious singing was coming from. Frustratingly, while we were waiting for them to arrive the singing was getting progressively quieter and the bird was moving away. When they arrived we all went cautiously into the field where the singing was coming from but there was no sign of the bird and as we approached the barley field perimeter we could all hear the singing coming from just the other side of the fence - the bird had once again retreated back into its favoured habitat – ARRRRGH!!
The following morning I arranged with our good neighbour, the farmer who owns the barley field, for Susan and me to walk the perimeter, in the unlikely event that we would see the Quail. On entering the field we could immediately hear its loud song, and as we got nearer and nearer the song was getting louder. We estimated that we were about ten feet away when everything went quiet. We sat down and just listened, and then from about fifty feet away the singing stated again. As we stood up the Quail flew about thirty yards into the crop, but we were elated, it was a UK life tick for us both and we were contented at just seeing such an elusive bird. We left the field happy with this very rare sighting.
However, it wasn’t over, not by a long shot!
The next day we had been out for a nice walk on a local hillside and we had seen Cuckoo, Yellow Hammer, Redstart and some young Chiffchaffs, so a nice morning out. After unloading my car and going into the house we were having some tea and I said I’d left my binocular case in my car, so I went outside and thirty yards away at the edge of the barley field there is an animal’s drinking trough, and as I looked a bird flew off the edge of the trough and into the field. To my utter astonishment I could see it was the Quail. I realised the bird was looking for water and as I am always on the lookout for photographic opportunities I got a planting tray from the garden shed and I took it down the field and placed it in the long grass near the drinking trough. I filled it with water from a watering can and then returned to my garden to see if it was in a favourable position. When I was happy I then set up my Canon 600 f4 prime lens with a 1.4 converter for maximum reach below the fence line of the field that borders our garden, thereby looking through the wires, and I then placed some camo netting in front for a bit more of a disguise. Susan sat on a garden chair just to the side also looking through the fence and we settled down and just waited – we were about twenty five yards away. This was more in hope than expectation realising how shy these birds are – but if you don’t try you’ll never know!!
About an hour later we could hear the Quail singing loudly again, near to the water trough and I couldn’t believe it as I saw it fly over the barley field fence and land in a tangle of old branches and nettles. It was still singing but we couldn’t see it, this is typical unfortunately. Then I looked on the left of this tangle of wood and grass and I could see the bird looking up the field. I had the camera on silent shooting just in chase, and I took a number of frames of the bird in various poses.
We both had good views of a very elusive subject. Everything then went silent and it disappeared back into the foliage and after about ten minutes had passed we both thought the bird had again retreated back to the barley field. What happened next though was one of the biggest shocks of my birding life, I looked over the top of my lens and I could now see the Quail in the long grass about fifteen feet from my lens - I literally could not believe it!! It had sneaked through the long grass and then made its way up the fence line out of our sight. A horrible feeling swept over me – would it be too close for my lens to focus? - the stuff of nightmares. I pressed the focus button and to my relief it snapped into focus and I shot it at what must have been very close to minimum focussing distance – fifteen feet. Most of the bird was hidden in long grass but I had a great portrait shot of one of the shyest birds around.
Susan also had great views through the fence wire. Then it just disappeared again and later we could hear it taking off and flying back into the barley field - What an experience!!
Please see Latest Images, Common Quail for a few more images.
Also footage of this male bird singing can be seen on the 'video clips' page of this site.
Common by name but not by nature, these highly elusive migrants from the continent usually arrive in June in small numbers and around here they are rarely heard and even less rarely seen! The last bird heard was about eight years ago, so an unusual event for this area. I telephoned the county bird recorder who lives locally and on his arrival we both heard the bird singing clearly. However, we both realised with a dose of reality that although it was very nice to hear this rare bird, a sighting was totally unrealistic because Quail are notoriously difficult to see, spending all of their time hidden in typically, a barley crop.
The following day Susan and I were out in the garden and it was obvious to us that this Quail was singing outside the barley field where I first heard it. It was very close to our house and with the chance of a probable once in a lifetime sighting on the cards I again telephoned the county recorder and another of our birding friends and asked them to come over and walk in the field where the obvious singing was coming from. Frustratingly, while we were waiting for them to arrive the singing was getting progressively quieter and the bird was moving away. When they arrived we all went cautiously into the field where the singing was coming from but there was no sign of the bird and as we approached the barley field perimeter we could all hear the singing coming from just the other side of the fence - the bird had once again retreated back into its favoured habitat – ARRRRGH!!
The following morning I arranged with our good neighbour, the farmer who owns the barley field, for Susan and me to walk the perimeter, in the unlikely event that we would see the Quail. On entering the field we could immediately hear its loud song, and as we got nearer and nearer the song was getting louder. We estimated that we were about ten feet away when everything went quiet. We sat down and just listened, and then from about fifty feet away the singing stated again. As we stood up the Quail flew about thirty yards into the crop, but we were elated, it was a UK life tick for us both and we were contented at just seeing such an elusive bird. We left the field happy with this very rare sighting.
However, it wasn’t over, not by a long shot!
The next day we had been out for a nice walk on a local hillside and we had seen Cuckoo, Yellow Hammer, Redstart and some young Chiffchaffs, so a nice morning out. After unloading my car and going into the house we were having some tea and I said I’d left my binocular case in my car, so I went outside and thirty yards away at the edge of the barley field there is an animal’s drinking trough, and as I looked a bird flew off the edge of the trough and into the field. To my utter astonishment I could see it was the Quail. I realised the bird was looking for water and as I am always on the lookout for photographic opportunities I got a planting tray from the garden shed and I took it down the field and placed it in the long grass near the drinking trough. I filled it with water from a watering can and then returned to my garden to see if it was in a favourable position. When I was happy I then set up my Canon 600 f4 prime lens with a 1.4 converter for maximum reach below the fence line of the field that borders our garden, thereby looking through the wires, and I then placed some camo netting in front for a bit more of a disguise. Susan sat on a garden chair just to the side also looking through the fence and we settled down and just waited – we were about twenty five yards away. This was more in hope than expectation realising how shy these birds are – but if you don’t try you’ll never know!!
About an hour later we could hear the Quail singing loudly again, near to the water trough and I couldn’t believe it as I saw it fly over the barley field fence and land in a tangle of old branches and nettles. It was still singing but we couldn’t see it, this is typical unfortunately. Then I looked on the left of this tangle of wood and grass and I could see the bird looking up the field. I had the camera on silent shooting just in chase, and I took a number of frames of the bird in various poses.
We both had good views of a very elusive subject. Everything then went silent and it disappeared back into the foliage and after about ten minutes had passed we both thought the bird had again retreated back to the barley field. What happened next though was one of the biggest shocks of my birding life, I looked over the top of my lens and I could now see the Quail in the long grass about fifteen feet from my lens - I literally could not believe it!! It had sneaked through the long grass and then made its way up the fence line out of our sight. A horrible feeling swept over me – would it be too close for my lens to focus? - the stuff of nightmares. I pressed the focus button and to my relief it snapped into focus and I shot it at what must have been very close to minimum focussing distance – fifteen feet. Most of the bird was hidden in long grass but I had a great portrait shot of one of the shyest birds around.
Susan also had great views through the fence wire. Then it just disappeared again and later we could hear it taking off and flying back into the barley field - What an experience!!
Please see Latest Images, Common Quail for a few more images.
Also footage of this male bird singing can be seen on the 'video clips' page of this site.