The baby quail have hatched

Living where we do, we have lots of wild life. Some good, some not so good. My favorite birds are the quail and we have several that live near by.

One couple laid 8 eggs in the planter by our front door. We closed the court yard off to people and dogs and waited. I went in the court yard every day and the hen didn't seem to mind when I was around. I read on the Internet it took about 22 days for them to hatch so have been checking daily to see if we had little ones. She would leave the nest in the heat of the day but returned at night to keep them warm.

The past two days both the male and female were sitting in the planter and I knew something was happening. Yesterday, The female was on the ground with 2 or 3 little ones while the male continued to sit in the planter. I saw 2 little ones herded into the bushes by their mother, I was too late to catch a picture of them. She is on guard by the hose in the following picture. She sat so still she looked like a rock.

This morning, camera in hand I went to check on my little family. All gone, 7 of the 8 eggs hatched and as quail do they must have followed their parents off into the desert to search for food. I hope to catch a glimpse of them in the days to come and maybe even get a picture. It was all quite exciting to me.