California Quail

On a very, very hot afternoon in June, "Mr. and Mrs. Q" (what I call the local mated pair of California quail) brought their whole, young brood by! Thinking she'd take a nice dust bath in the center of driveway, Mama gathered the babies together in a tight circle to take a short nap in the shade of the valley oak in our front yard while Daddy Q kept look-out from atop an old railroad tie but, kids being kids (no matter what the species), naturally 2 or 3 of them followed her out there. Obviously peeved, she cut her dust bath short (poor Mama Q!) and called to the rest of the family to follow her over the rise and down the other side of the driveway where the babies first gathered in the shade of a large, plastic nursery pot before Mama Q again bedded down her brood in another shady spot for a few minutes. Then she and Papa Q headed them all up the hill toward the large meadow on the neighbor's property.