Six months on the island and there was one bird that still eluded me, the Valley Quail. One evening in June, I was biking through a small neighbourhood on my way back from a full day of exploring. The light was faint as the sun hung low. I passed by a lawn with a row of trees. On the other side of the trees was a flock of Valley Quails! I knew to have any chance of producing a good image I needed to let the birds come to me, that meant getting low and staying quiet.
Once the ground birds were out of sight, I dismounted the bike and with camera in hand crawled across the grass. I lay in wait on the lawn for the quails to forage closer. Sure enough, a male and female made their way through the trees and down the lawn coming right for my lens. I started clicking away as the pair got closer. At this time I began to have a reaction to the grass I was lying on. As I was focusing on the male with his beautiful plumage my eyes started to itch and my throat tingled. I tried to hold in a sneeze so I did not scare the birds but it came out. Then two more, then three in succession. My eyes were now watering and my nose was running. The male quail was quickly diverting his course away from me and crossing the road to safety. I made my last frames before the entire flock disappeared in a thicket across the road. I was upset that I had frightened them. Photo or not I never intend to scare wildlife. My reaction to the grass was also very uncomfortable. For the next hour my throat swelled up. It felt like I was breathing through a straw until the inflammation went down.
Despite the discomfort, I'm thankful I was able to photograph the quails and grateful to have spent a moment so close to them. The photos were hard earned. Now recovered, I can appreciate how comical the entire scene was.