163 thoughts on “Rare Visitors~

  1. These are truly remarkable pictures. was visiting at my mom’s house years ago and she called me to come quickly. There in a small clearing, was mama quail, the babies, and daddy at the end, walking in that lovely line they do and you rarely see. I’ll never forget it. And to see these photos, so up close and personal is just astounding. Thank you so much!

    1. Oh how wonderful to see that line of babies. Quail to co-operative parenting and share babysitting. What a sight. I would be so thrilled to see this and you can tell by this post!! Laughing~

  2. Yay!!! The quails!! I’ve never seen a quail in real life. I’d be excited if I saw one! I love birds and all animals. The Holler seems like a magic place. Thanks for sharing, Cindy!

  3. Lovely. Our Scaled Quail are not so spectacularly colored, and there are 2 or 3 coyote packs out where I live, but the quail are here anyway, and come to the feeder and birdbath.

  4. These aren’t the European quail, as far as I can see.
    When I had just met the man who was to become my husband he found a quail alongside the road on which we were traveling. He stopped the car, captured the quail and it lived with us – as we became – for many years.
    Who could resist a man who stops to rescue a tiny lost bird!

  5. Would you believe I was just at a wedding and the groom’s last name is Holler?
    I enjoyed your birds. Thank you for taking time to click the like button on my blog. I appreciate your visits and wanted to tell you so.

  6. Quail produce the same excitement here. For years there were none, and then last year one quail stopped by. This spring a small flock visited for two weeks, but they’ve gone now. Perhaps they will return.

    1. I assume so, but it is an assumption so a good question. I have never seen this, but assumed that is why the quail stayed away from your house. Now you sparked my curiosity, so I will head to google……

  7. Nice pics of one of my favorite little birds…well, sometimes little. Some of them around here are fat! I love it when they have the little babies…they are about thumb sized and twinkle toes behind their moms….so cute!

    1. Yes ravens are over-poulating lots of areas now and driving out more threatened species which is a problem. Ravens are very smart though and have excellent memories~

  8. These are wonderful photos. I’ve never seen a quail before, they are interesting looking birds. Love that cute little bob they have on their head!

  9. Ours have been keeping scarce this year but I can hear them twittering and scuttling in the thistle stand below. Soon they’ll come out unless Sophie has them totally buffaloed! They are as big as she is so… Well, one can hope!

  10. Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
    Such a beautiful delicate bird and most of us have only seen their eggs in small, expensive cartons, or in the poultry section of the supermarket, looking small and delicate beside their huge avian family members of chickens and turkeys. I don’t buy them since my daily cooking tends to be of a more basic nature. On reflection, I think I prefer them dressed in plumage enjoying the warm summer sunshine. Beautiful photographs Cindy.

    1. I actually tried to to incubate quail eggs when I was a kid. I saved and bought the eggs and incubator. I don’t know how I was planning to raise them when they hatched since I was in elementary school! Laughing. I turned the eggs several times a day, but I guess it was for the better (in hindsight) that they never hatched. I agree with you. They are best viewed, like all wild animals, free!

  11. We used to have quail in our neighborhood – but an avian flu reduce their numbers.
    I think their might still be some on the hill…

    I vividly remember our first year with a male strutting across the back yard with two hens following. 🙂

    1. Foxes!!! I have seen one fox at The Holler and I would be big time thrilled to see another. All told in my life I have seen three foxes. Two in Alaska and one at The Holler~

  12. Such perfectly beautiful shots…I love quails, I remember one of the first books I read was “That Quail, Robert’ and then we had them around growing up. These are such crisp, beautiful shots. Everyone of these I thought “that is my favorite…” all of them so nice.

  13. Indeed,very special and rare visitors,dear Cindy ! You caught action and beauty at the same time; the plumage details are awesome !!! Love to you and our very special feathered friend !!!
    Doda 🙂 xxx

  14. Oh my! So glad the quail are safe and sound, so far! I wondered, Cindy, are they related to Bob-Whites? They look like what we call that but I am sure they are a little different. I am so glad you caught the one tipping its head down to look at the fish or below the water. It is such a cute pose!

  15. Cindy – Bob White Quail are my favorite of all. I grew up hearing them sing outside my bedroom window. Of course my brothers and father hunt on the ranch but they had to be at least 2 miles from the immediate home, barns, etc. because mother made pets of the Quail. This carried over to me and once we were settled into our home in NC, I had the perfect habitat for Bob White and received a permit to bring in two covey of quail. Of course no hunting was alive and I had Dad to guide me on exactly what they wanted to eat (he came out from Kansas when I first got them to go to the grainery to have their food milled properly). Then we added in some other items they normally flourished in and every time I went out to feed my birds (all kinds I could rejoice in my heart especially with the Bob White). I loved waking up to their calls to each other and Dad and I worked side by side to ensure they had perfect safe places to lay eggs, etc.

    The wildlife and game commission monitored my progress for the first six months and after that, I received routine calls from them about bringing in other compatible birds that were loosing out in NC since I was doing so much hand feeding. Between the extensive gardens I built and taking care of the birds, those were some of the happiest days of my life. Unfortunately, Tom was very ill there and the day came when we had to leave.

    I have ever so fond memories of those years. Your nature photography brings back so many fond memories for me. Thank you. My comments are long. Please feel free to edit them out of your comments. You won’t hurt my feelings. I know they are long but I had to say thank you for adding joy to my day, even now.

    1. What kind of person would edit out these fascinating comments???? Not me! No way! I had a friend who raised several different types of quail when I was a child in several outdoor aviaries so I am very familiar with the joys of raising quail and watching them grow. I bought a incubator and quail eggs as a child and tried to hatch them but they didn’t hatch, which was probably a good thing since I was in elementary school and could never have fed them round the clock.
      Your bird sanctuary sounds postively idylic and if you were still doing this I would want to visit and photograph. You are a remarkable person Sheri who I feel so grateful to have met here in the blogsphere!

  16. oh! That fat lil belly! How sweet, and I LOVE your poem to go along. As fun and simple as the lines of the quail itself so an excellent echo. Also: I adore quail. There are lots in the unbuilt section that abuts our condo complex here to adjoin roads…The silly little way they run…dressed up dudes late for a wedding party or something…

    ‘Kay. Nice to “see” you. Your stuff IS the bar.

    1. You have faulous words and imagery falling like healing rain from your brain. You blow we away with your talent my friend, and then there is your kindness. You rock my dear and I am grateful for you~

  17. I just love it when we see quail in our little corner of the world. Sadly, it usually means that these lovely birds are fleeing from wild fires to the west of us. We’ll keep the welcome mat out for them all the same. Cheers!

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