The Long Wait

In one of my lasts blogs I referred to having patience. Today I successfully put that to the test. My plan was to get into the photo blind before the quail came to feed. With that in mind I had to forego my morning workout at the gym and I headed straight for the blind after dropping off Jay for zero period at seven ten a.m.. Badger and I were in the blind by seven thirty and now began the long wait. While waiting I took numerous images of juncos, nuthatches and finches on the rock that I wanted to photograph the quail on. I had a one by six redwood ramp going from the ground up to the top of the rock that I wanted the quail to use. Around eight I could hear the quail calling from the lower pasture but they didn't seem to be getting any closer.
Finally around eight thirty I could hear the quail in the upper pasture. They were moving up the hill. I kept focusing and practicing on the little birds on the rock. Finally at eight forty five a quail hopped through the wire fence surounding the area where I'm photographing. In a matter of minutes there were about two dozen of them in front of me. Badger was really agitated by having the quail so close by. I had one hand on him and my other hand on the shutter release as the quail started feeding. Soon two of them began walking up the ramp. They paused several times before one of them finally climbed onto the rock. I took several exposures. I had the image for the day that I really wanted to create. The rest of the morning was just icing on the cake.
Thank you Lord for such beautiful creatures to photograph and such a wondrous place to do it.

chris