Northern BobwhiteA northern bobwhite in an unusual habitat. (Photo David A. Murray)

Similar to endangered wildlife species; our farmlands are disappearing before our eyes. The paradox in this statement is that even though it's disappearing before our eyes - it often goes unnoticed.

As we busily go about our everyday activities, significant changes in our environment are taking place daily. These changes range from subtle to extreme; although, in either case the end result is the same - the change is permanent. Once the shopping mall occupies the location of the house and barn that were once home to generations of farmers and the pasture is paved over for acres of parking, there's no turning back, the loss of natural habitat is forever.

The destruction of wildlife habitat and the changing face of our environment is only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. The long range ramifications are just that, long range, and the ability to determine just how detrimental these changes are to other facets of life is uncertain. However, what is certain is that the ongoing rapid loss of farmlands, and the decline in population of many wildlife species that depended upon that habitat, continues to be substantial and escalating out-of-control.

Commercial and urban sprawl have produced habitat changes that are both significant and interesting. Significant, in the permanent loss of habitat and, interesting, in the way that wildlife has attempted to adapt to the changes.

Often, when we think of critters adapting to habitat change we focus on mammals; however, what about the adaptability of other wildlife, such as birds? Due to their mobility or migration, we often overlook the significance of habitat loss for our avian friends; they too are adversely affected and forced to adapt and coexist among residential and commercial development. The northern bobwhite is an example of one species attempting to adapt.

The northern bobwhite is small, plump, and a member of the quail family. In many parts of North America it's a popular game bird. Hunting the northern bobwhite grew in popularity as the population dramatically increased with the creation of farmlands.

Farmers cleared many of the unbroken forestlands to provide areas for the grazing of livestock and to plant crops. At one time, a typical farm consisted of large open fields separated by a ten- or twenty-foot hedgerow. A hedgerow was the dividing line between the fields or pastures, and would initially consist of cedar posts and a barbed wire fence or stonewall.

Grazing livestock avoided feeding too close to the wall or fence, and so an area on both sides of this dividing line would become overgrown. Also, as time went on, farmers would use this hedgerow to pile natural debris, such as spoiled hay, unwanted saplings growing in the field, or rocks picked from the fields. The result was a wide swath of brush, small trees or bushes, and undergrowth of grasses and plants. This is a perfect habitat for the northern bobwhite.

As America's farmlands began to spread, so did the bobwhite population. The population once flourished from the farmlands of Kansas and Iowa to the East Coast. The northern range extended into Massachusetts with very few birds beyond the northern border of that state. However, today with the advent of habitat loss due to development, the northern East Coast populations of these birds has disappeared in most of their previous habitats. However, surprisingly, due in part to global warming, some northern bobwhites have adapted to northern areas once considered too cold for this species.

Very often photo opportunities occur in unlikely places. That was the case with this image of the male northern bobwhite.

The story begins with a business meeting that brought me to a newly developed industrial park just outside the city of Portland, Maine. It was one of those situations where the business meeting required the dress attire of a suit and tie.

Once the meeting ended, I got in my truck and began to drive out of the industrial park. The movement of something in the brush along the roadside caught my attention. I grabbed my binoculars, which are always close at hand, and began to scan the brush directly in front of a recently constructed office building.

This newly developed industrial park was once a wooded area. The developer had clear-cut several parcels in hopes of attracting pros-pective buyers, and this created overgrown wooded breaks, or hedgerows, between intermittent existing buildings and grassy open areas waiting to be developed. Strangely enough this industrial park, at least for a period of time, now became similar to the habitat of farmland! And you guessed it; the movement in the bushes was a northern bobwhite.

It didn't take long for the receptionist of the business I was parked in front of to come to the window to see why, as it appeared to her, I was looking at them with binoculars. Of course, what I was really looking at was the bushy area in front of the building. Then, what really attracted a crowd at the window was when I jumped out of my truck, all decked-out in my suit and tie, with a camera mounted on a tripod and a 500mm lens! I crouched down and managed to fire off a few frames before the bobwhite disappeared into the brush.

In my photography workshops, I stress that if you're serious about outdoor photography to always bring your camera gear when you travel. As you can see, you never know when an opportunity may arise to get a great shot - or, entertain bored office workers!

Good shooting!

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