Tweeters,

Realizing from eBird that this elusive bird was being seen lately, I decided yesterday to head for Belfair to, at long last, try for this lifer.
Using the valuable resource, Finding Birds in Washington, Second Edition, I decided to focus on the Tahuya-Blacksmith Road, especially the graveled part.

After a pleasant walk Wednesday morning in the Theler Wetlands under overcast skies, I decided after lunch to check out and familiarize myself with Tahuya-Blacksmith Road, never having been there before. I drove the length of it, noting varying stages of reforestation throughout, along the graveled portion of the road.

Driving back south, at one spot in the graveled section, I happened to espy ahead a gourd-like shaped, unmoving object , at the right edge of the road. Slowly creeping forward, now with binoculars in hand, I was able to see that it was indeed a bird, not moving, but looking around. Finally, it does move from its position a bit, though never facing me, and I can see the long plume extending straight up from the top of its head, before it turns and disappears into the brush at the side of the road. Huh. Mountain Quail, at 1:25 in the afternoon.
Well, sometimes luck overcomes no particular skill at finding birds, this day to my benefit.

The following morning, maybe not as early as I should have been, the best I could do was in a paved section of the road, where homes border the west side of a small lake that the road skirts. That was the glimpsing of a small bird in a mad dash to cover that I had flushed from the entrance of an earthen driveway leading to one of the homes, with a clear cut of a steep slope on the road's other side. It seemed too small for an adult quail, but maybe it was, or a half-grown young bird. I don't know what other possibilities there are in this area, but it was gamebird-like to me.

My apologies again to all who bothered to read through this. I appreciate everyone who posts their sightings and stories on Tweeters.
To borrow from Marv Breece. it was two good days.
Good birding,

Bill Boyington
Shoreline, WA

Sent from my iPhone