From [[email protected]] Sat Oct 12 22:37:37 2002 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id g9D5Zo19027700; Sat, 12 Oct 2002 22:35:50 -0700 (PDT) Received: from smtp2.Stanford.EDU (smtp2.stanford.edu [171.64.14.116]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.2/8.12.2) with ESMTP id g9D5ZOhh027661 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 12 Oct 2002 22:35:24 -0700 (PDT) Received: from smtp2.Stanford.EDU (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by smtp2.Stanford.EDU (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g9D5ZNN28738 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 12 Oct 2002 22:35:23 -0700 (PDT) Received: from hppav.stanford.edu (DNab42a586.Stanford.EDU [171.66.165.134]) by smtp2.Stanford.EDU (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g9D5ZKO28729 for <[[email protected]]>; Sat, 12 Oct 2002 22:35:20 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> X-Sender: [[email protected]] (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 4.3.1 Date: Sat, 12 Oct 2002 22:35:35 -0700 To: [[email protected]] From: Patty Ciesla <[[email protected]]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [SBB] The quail covey has reassembled X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1b3+ Precedence: list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: [[email protected]] Errors-To: [[email protected]] The big covey of California Quail has reassembled in our yard. Early in the summer I would usually only see a handful of quail at any one time -- usually less than 8 or 10. I was worried that the coyotes were responsible for the declining numbers, but now I don't think that's the case. About a month ago, it looked like two small coveys had converged, as I began seeing up to 15 or 20 birds together at the ground seeds in the path below the deck. This morning I counted 37 birds and enjoyed the morning paper listening to their liquid burbling coos and pooks. It's become an important ritual for me on rising to toss the seeds over the railing first, then make the coffee. By the time the smell of dark roasted fills the kitchen, the quail are coming in. They come -- generally -- from the area by the barn. Their night roosting location is unclear to me. I can't tell if they are leaving the cover of the dry chaparral high to the south, or if they are running up from the moist canyon below and to the east. Either way, they congregate in the plum and quince trees or the big brambles of blackberries first, clucking in anticipation as they hide in the cover. The scrub jays venture to the seeds first, boasting about their bravery with their grating wrehK! breakfast call. Only then do a few of the quail decide it's safe. They launch from the branches and tumble in awkwardly, cackling nervously. When the first 3 or 4 are scratching and pecking in the dirt the rest follow gradually. Some fly in directly, taking the long flight from the high branches in the plum. Others nervously take the interrupted aerial pattern, landing first in the high brush half way, then completing the flight a few moments later to land in the path. Others are even more cautious; they haltingly run, spurting from the base of the quince to assemble short in the cover of the roses. They babble and watch their braver kin feed for a while before finally giving in to hunger and finally running drunkenly out from cover, zigging along the path, to the seeds. I must read the paper quietly, carefully. No rustling of pages or the whole yard explodes with the thunder of quail in anxious retreat. Ssshh. Honey, come listen, the quail are here! Patty _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list [[email protected]] http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/listinfo/south-bay-birds