Posted: Aug 4, 07 2:40pm

I have a nemesis bird. I've been birding in California for two decades. I've spent hundreds of hours in the field. And the one bird I should have seen, but haven't, has become my only personal nemesis bird.

I know many people who seen my bird. I've even heard it numerous times myself. It's out there, hidden. I know the simple call by heart, I can do a pretty good imitation. But I refuse to put this bird on my life list until I SEE one.

I grew up in the Ozarks where the Bobwhite was common in myparents' front yard. Though I read with sadness the Bobwhite's population is now falling in many areas. The California Quail still lingers in a couple corners of San Francisco. In some nearby suburban spots it's still abundant though nothing like the old days. Early explorers in California before the Gold Rush reported coveys of four hundred birds, or more. Now a couple dozen is usual.

I've seen Gambel's Quail in several places, including once in a motel parking lot near Palm Springs. There were Scaled Quail in the front garden of a small home in south Texas where the man fed them regularly and could call them out of the thorn scrub.

My nemesis is the Mountain Quail. i coveta small covey, and if they choose to be silent, that's okay. Recently I was birding a mountain in southern Oregon with a small group. We could hear the male calling. He was less than a hundred yards away, down a road, behind thick brush and a large "No Tresspassing" sign. None of us got a glimpse. I may go back there and just sit on a rock by the side of the road...

What's your nemesis bird? I recently helped a Colorado birder find his first-ever Purple Finch. This one was in the Strybing Arboretum of Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. They breed here and not in Colorado. But this birder is well-traveled and has seen many rare and hard-to-find birds. It was always, "They're around here somewhere" or "You should have been in my backyard yesterday."

Maybe helping him beat his nemesis will bring a little birding karma in my direction. Please don't tell me you get Mountain Quail at your backyard feeder every December. It'll break my heart. Unless you invite me to come stay until I see one...