Quail in winter

Chow call! Here they come for breakfast! (Dec. 24, 2009)

Do I need to get a bigger feeder?

This little finch seems to be saying: "Save some for me!"

After breakfast, Quigley "swims" through the snow for shelter in the bushes across the lawn.

It's so much work, he flies the last part of the way.

After breakfast on Christmas morning, Quigley stands guard, watching the feeder from his perch in the nearby shrubs. (Dec. 25, 2009)

What! Sleeping on guard duty?



OK, Quigley, your shift is over, you can crawl under cover and take your nap.

The Days of Christmas

On the week before Christmas, my backyard gave to me:

Three quail a-scampering . . .

Two woodpeckers a-pecking . . .

And a mourning dove calmly looking at me!

Twas the Week Before Christmas . . .

Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even her spouse.
At the basement back door, at the foot of the stair,
Suzi was checking the lock with great care.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
She peeked out the door to see what was the matter.
Where, what to her wondering eyes should appear,
But four eyes and four ears of two ghostly mule deer.

They were nervous and skittish and shifting about,
When Dad with his camera came sneaking on out.
The setting was "auto" and under-exposed,
So the shutter stayed froze while they anxiously posed.

Then he made some adjustments and turned on the flash,
But, alas, was too late, as the deer made a dash.
More rapid than eagles straight at us they came,
And the photo was missed, what a gosh-awful shame!

[Translation: We had 2 deer in our backyard Sat. night, a week before Christmas! The photo was from last summer - the best I could do.]

Quail Report - Freedom Week 3

After I chased away two raucous magpies that had been hogging the feeder, I went looking for the quail. I found Quigley hiding in the tomatoes. His sister, was hiding behind the grow-box. But I could only find 3 quail during my morning search. All week long, we've seen 4 survivors on most days. I worried that another one had fallen victim to the magpies or other predators.

This was an interesting shot of Quigley pecking at an itch somewhere under his wing. I especially like how blue his breast feathers are.

Later in the day (with no magpies around) I found all four of our survivors pecking around near the feeder. That was a big relief! We hope they have learned how to stay safe!

Quail Report - Freedom Week 2

After two weeks of Freedom, there are still four quail that return regularly to our yard for food, water and shelter. We see them resting in the dirt, roosting in the trees, and stopping by the food station off and on during the day. We also see them run/fly across the road to the neighbor's bushes for a change. (All but the first of these pictures were taken by Suzanne, who enjoys watching the quail as much as I do.)

Quail Report - Freedom Day 2

Yipee! Our quail have come back "home" for supper! Here they are chowing down at their old familiar feeder.

Then, when they had eaten their fill, they filed off behind the grow-box to find shelter for the night

. . . as up the hill they scoot, perhaps to roost in the big pine tree for the night? We sure hope so. Welcome back! And come again anytime!

Quail Report - Freedom Day

Above, the last pictures of the quail in captivity. "The huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

When the cage wall was removed, several immediately flew over the fence and disappeared. But these two stayed on the wall, trying to decide, "Should I go, or should I stay?" One looks like he's ready to fly off into the sunset.

This one stayed on top of the cage. Glad to be "out," but not sure if she wanted to leave her home.

This one roosted in the aspen right above the cage.

And this one flew to the other end of the yard and roosted in a big pine tree. We will see if they return to the cage area for their food and water.

Deer in "back yard"

I spotted these two deer in the field beyond our yard this afternoon as I finished "shooting" the quail. They are about 150 yards from our back deck. (Be sure to click on the photo to see them "up close.")

Quail Report - 7 Weeks

One day this week, we saw this covey of about 20 quail cavorting all over the neighbor's yard. The more the merrier!

Our own quail are now 13 weeks old. Still 9 left out of 11. They're getting bigger, and more nervous. We've about decided to give them their freedom this week. We hope they will still remember our yard as their "headquarters," even if they merge with the neighborhood covey. The big test will be if one or more pairs lays their eggs in our backyard next spring. That's our hope.

Quail Report - 6 Weeks

Age 12 weeks. Adult coloring is a little more advanced. They seem more nervous, perhaps anxious to be set free. I can only count nine now. I don't know is no. 10 is hiding inside the box, or has perhaps died in there. Time will tell.

Quail Report - 5 weeks

The quail are now about 11 weeks old. They are getting bigger and more colorful each week. More and more blue around the shoulders on the males, and much more color on the bellies. Enjoy!

Quail Report - Newcomers!

As I arrived home from work this evening, a family of quail walked onto our front lawn from the neighbor's yard - a dad, a mom, and 6 little quail chicks! I stopped and called Suzanne to come out of the house and watch. We watched them run across our yard, cross the street and hide in another neighbor's trees. Then the dad & mom flew up on the neighbor's house. They didn't seem to like the dog in that yard. After supper, I went back outside with my camera to see if I could find them. I circled the house and ended up in the back yard, approaching the back corner where our own quail are in their cage. I heard a lot of activity back there, so I peaked carefully through the bushes, and found this new family perched on the cage and scratching in the dirt around the cage. The dad took off running across our back lawn - to draw me away from his family. I took a few shots of him. Then shot these other pictures through the bushes - the mom perched on our cage, and some of the babies, just before they flew up onto the fence, and then into the back neighbor's yard to hid in their bushes. Our own birds seemed to enjoy the company - they didn't run and hide, but kept jumping onto their box and their perch. Isn't this fun?!