Quail baby rescue

Yesterday afternoon, while I was fixing Bogie's dinner, I looked out the window and saw a quail pair approaching the ground level bird bath.  Sweet.  Wait.  Something else is moving.  At least 20 little puffball babies. 

Bogie was distracted by eating, but I was afraid he would want to go outside afterwards.  I watched the babies go back under the gate.  Whew!.  Wait.  Mom and Dad didn’t leave.  Babies came streaming back into the yard.  Bogie laid down with no plans to go out into the heat.

Babies scurried back under the gate.  Yay!  Again, Mom and Dad didn’t leave and the babies came streaming back.  I opened the patio door, hoping the noise would send them all under the gate.

Mom and Dad flew over the wall.  The babies scurried away – into the yard.  I made sure Bogie couldn’t get outside, then I went out to gather up babies.  I found where some were hiding and herded them to the gate.  Score!  They went under. 

But wait, others went the opposite direction.  I caught one and put it outside the gate.  And it tried to come back into the yard!  I deflected it and put it further outside.

Herded the rest toward the gate.  Caught another and deposited it outside.  Didn’t see any more and went inside to find Bogie completely uninterested in what was happening. 

As I cleaned his bowl at the sink, I saw 3 more babies scurry along the wall and under the gate.  I watched a while longer, but nothing else moved.  All babies safely outside the yard.

Not my photo

"Teenage" quail

My yard backs up against a retention basin. Often the Gambel's Quail that live there visit the bird block in my yard.  Although other birds enjoy the seed, I primarily put the blocks out to attract the quail.

Before I got the big dogs, the yard was sometimes visited by the parents and their puffball babies.  About the size of a fuzzy golf ball, the puffballs can't fly and would enter and exit under the gate.  While I miss seeing the babies, I would be devastated if one of the dogs caught one.  Instead, I get a kick out of the "teenage" quail.  They are not quite as big as their parents and they stick close to each other.

Walking along the block wall

I am impressed that the quail know whether or not to worry about the dogs.  And which of my dogs are the bigger concern.  Angel will walk out the doggy door, the quail will go on alert. If she simply lays in the grass they go back to eating.  If she walks toward them, they hop to the top of the block wall and make their escape.

Mom and kids

The wooden deck they are walking on is a raised platform about 3 feet high that keeps the food off the ground and provides a little protection from the dogs. I use a terra cotta planter bottom as a bird bath.

Dad and kids getting a drink. 

I can see the bird block platform from my kitchen window. Sometimes I am so entertained that I forget I'm supposed to be washing the dishes.