Tag Archives: Quail

Waiting to hatch

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Here’s a quail selfie from my Bird Buddy AI bird feeder.

Twice this week I spotted baby quail. Once was on our morning walk and a mom and dad were followed by the teeniest quail babies I’ve ever seen. They must have hatched that day.

Yesterday afternoon, a family of quail marched into our backyard from the wash. They were a little older and didn’t stay long enough for me to get a video or picture.

I immediately ran to the front of our house to see if our quail eggs had hatched.

quail eggs in a nest

Our nest of eggs in a planter of Elephant Feed.

No, the eggs are still there and it’s been a month since I’ve seen a momma or papa quail in the nest.

Unfortunately, the quail chose a planter next to our garage. At first, I’d see quail fly away when I’d pull into the garage or back the car out. Raising the garage door was enough noise to make the parents take flight.

I’m afraid the quail were scared away and they abandoned their nest. Or something could have happened to them. It’s a wild world out there. I’ve read what to do with eggs to get them to hatch. The most sensible advice is to wait and see. I also realize that I’m not opening the garage door very often. Maybe the quail parents are there, but not when I’m there.

Does anyone have advice while I wait for our eggs to hatch? Do you think the nest has been abandoned?

Quirky Quail Facts

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quail photo
Male Quail photo from my Bird Buddy.

I’m working on my community newsletter and my co-editor Sherry and neighbor Shirley put together fun facts about quail. I learned a lot of quirky things about quail I never knew before.

Here are the facts:

A group of quail is called a “covey.”

Males and females pair for life.

The male has a top knot plume that is actually six feathers together, and is used to intimidate other males.

Their food of preference is wild bird seed, followed by uncooked rice or sunflower seeds.

Nests are mostly in pots or window boxes, and are made by hollowing out the nest in dirt.

There can be a total of 7 to 28 eggs per nest, with the female laying 1 to 2 per day.  It is common for two females to share a nest, which is called “egg dumping,” and the female only sits on the nest after all the eggs are laid.

Eggs are speckled brown and arranged in a neat oval called a “clutch.”

Incubation is 25 days at a temperature of 100 degrees, and eggs are turned often.

Before hatching the babies peep inside the eggs.

They are born with a full coat of feathers, eyes wide open, and are able to feed themselves.

They all hatch on the same day and leave the nest immediately, usually in late June.                              

From MY HOA SPRING 2023 NEWSLETTER — Written by sherry and shirley

nest of quail eggs
This is the nest of quail eggs I discovered in a pot of Elephant Feed succulents. We’re up to at least 20 eggs now!

I told one of my friends I discovered this nest of quail eggs and she asked when I was going to “pick them.” I told her we’re letting them hatch and that I can’t wait to see the babies line up behind their mom and dad and follow them around our yard. They are so cute!

She said, “But quail eggs are so delicious.”

“I can buy them at the farmer’s market.” And I did!

A dozen quail eggs from the farmer's market.

These are the quail eggs I bought at our local farmer’s market. The vendor assured me these didn’t come from someone’s yard, but he buys them from a quail egg ranch. Somehow that makes it better. I can’t imagine stealing the eggs from the quail living in my yard!

hard. boiled quail eggs.

I asked the vendor at the farmer’s market what they tasted like and how to prepare them. He said most people hard boil them and put them in salads. He also said they taste exactly like chicken eggs.

I looked up how long to hard boil quail eggs and of course it’s much less time than chicken eggs. 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes. My friend was right — they are delicious!

Have you ever tried quail eggs? If so, what did you think about them?

Would you harvest quail eggs from your own yard? Why or why not?

The secrets in our yard

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Half eaten cactus

We discovered where the bites of cactus that end up at our front door came from.

I wrote about a mystery in our yard with bits of plants and cactus ending up on our front door mat HERE.

I’ve had a camera on lookout to spot the creatures. I’ve caught a bunny, a chipmunk and a lizard darting by. It was mentioned by another blogger that it could be our courtyard forms a wind tunnel and it’s the wind blowing the bits and pieces to the door.

Ever since I moved the camera from the backyard to the front door, the little presents stopped. I think the problem is the camera’s light. The camera goes dark at night and when movement happens it clicks on video mode with a bright light. We caught one bunny and after that nothing. I think the light has scared away any critters.

The only videos I get of animals are in the bright daylight.

However, I did spot a half eaten cacti in another part of the courtyard in a pot next to a big rock. I believe bunnies climb the rock and help themselves to a cactus buffet.

Another exciting secret I found in our yard is hidden in this Elephant Feed succulent. Also in a pot:

Elephant Feed in a pot

Elephant Feed succulent in a pot by our garage.

quail eggs hidden in a planter

Isn’t this exciting? I believe it’s quail eggs. I noticed this because as I backed the car out of the garage close to the pot of Elephant Feed, two quails flew away. I hope they come back!

What treasures have you discovered in your back yard or home?

Life in the desert

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Cardinal on cactus.

Cardinal visits daily to our back yard this week.

I was trying to cut down our cable TV Wifi bill. I went to the closest store a few weeks ago and asked them for suggestions. Their answer was odd, but they promised to cut one-third of the bill if I purchased an outdoor camera.

What? By purchasing a camera that could be used at the front door like Ring, we would save the price of the camera each month. Although it made little sense to me, I agreed.

Our monthly bill did go down by the cost of the camera. Next month, I’ll be ahead.

Instead of using the camera at the front door, I set it up on the back patio. I’ve been hoping to catch some wildlife. I wasn’t disappointed.

Check out the videos below of wildlife:

The bobcat appears at about 15 seconds in. After he leaves the scene the rest of the video is dark. No need to watch any more of it. I’m afraid I don’t know how to cut out the clip of the bobcat.

Quail in the backyard.

it’s not the best quality of camera, but if I get more shots at night of the bobcat, I’ll be thrilled.

My dad sent me a video from Phoenix of a bobcat inside someone’s home cuddled in on the dog bed with toys. The bobcat entered through a doggy door. Unfortunately, the dog was badly hurt, but is surviving after surgery. The video is included in the CBS story below. Click on the link HERE.

Arizona resident comes home to bobcat in dog’s bed

A homeowner in San Manuel, Arizona, came home after work to find a furry creature in her dog’s bed – but it wasn’t a pet. It was a bobcat, believed to have come through the home’s unlocked doggie door.

The homeowner snapped a photo of the bobcat lounging in the bed and the Arizona Game and Fish Department shared the image on Twitter, warning residents not to handle wildlife like this themselves.

Officers with the department did arrive at the scene, but the bobcat had already escaped when they arrived.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/arizona-resident-comes-home-to-bobcat-in-dogs-bed/ar-AA18n2o5

What wildlife do you have around you? What are your thoughts of the cable company offering a lower price for buying a camera?

Views from my week

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Cardinal with pink flamingos

A cardinal hung out with the birthday flamingos.

At first the birds were avoiding our back yard like the plague. I guess the flamingos I got for my birthday looked too menacing. After tossing birdseed at the feet of the flamingos we got our first visitor. A bright red cardinal.

The quail are still wary and they walk on the opposite side of the yard — as far away from the flamingos as possible.

Here’s are other views from the week:

sunset on a cloudy day

Sunset on a cloudy day.

sunset reflected on trees

I loved how the sunset reflected on the trees.

A view of snow covered hills on a morning walk in the neighborhood.

The cardinal hanging out on a rock.

Other exciting news. We got our dishwasher installed. We got the solar approved. I turned on the breakers to the solar and the house didn’t blow up. I was more than concerned about that!

I went to a lunch with a very energizing and encouraging speaker. I almost groaned when the waiters served the typical chicken lunch. But it was the best chicken banquet meal I’ve ever had. Tender, juicy and flavorful with tons of veggies. Good speaker, good lunch. I feel spoiled.

What are some of the highlights from your week so far?

Shadows

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I enjoyed the shadows of the quail as much as the real birds.

I was watching the quail yesterday in our backyard after I threw a few handfuls of seed on the ground.

I began to notice shadows of the quail walking up and down a tree trunk.

I also loved watching the quail sitting on branches. When I first noticed them they were all on the branches. By the time I got my phone out to record, they had mostly jumped down to the ground.

Last weekend we were too busy. We went out with friends on Friday, Saturday I cooked oxtail soup for neighbors, and Sunday we got invited to watch the football games with friends.

This weekend, I’m looking for quiet time to read and work on taxes.

Have a great weekend!

What plans do you have for the weekend? Do you like solitude or being with people?

Feeling powerless

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Gila woodpecker
A gila woodpecker loves the Bird Buddy.

I’ll keep this short. We have a planned power outage today for an upgrade to our electrical panel. It’s four to five hours without electricity. Who knows? That’s why I’m powerless today. I’m using my iphone as a hotspot to write this post. I want to conserve my iphone and laptop battery until the power is back on — so I won’t ramble on too much. FYI the upgrade has to do with solar panels.

As far as my Bird Buddy goes, I haven’t been posting any photos lately because a covey of quail jumped on it all at once and the bird feeder flew off the fence into the wash. The solar panel roof hit hard on the ground, popped off and the usb-c connection broke in half.

I contacted Bird Buddy to see if I could get a new cord, but they said I needed to order a new solar panel roof. They sent me a code for a discount, but the solar panel roof isn’t expected to ship until late February or early March. Also, we need to find a better place for the Bird Buddy so it’s stable and can’t be knocked over by wind or greedy feeding birds.

If your power is out, what’s do you miss using the most?

When you don’t have electricity, do you find yourself forgetting the power is out and try to use something like the microwave? I found myself hitting the lights in the dark bathroom.