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Aaah, so many things I want to do today.. couldn't fall back asleep for thinking of them.
Then I get up and spy an unusual bird in my yard, and spend the next 2+ hours taking photos and looking up what it could be.
I first noticed it from a lot of bird chirping. It was on the ground while many birds were flying into and away from the little tree it was under. I couldn't figure out if they felt endangered by it and were trying to scare it away, or if they were likewise curious about it like me. In the meantime, I saw mockingbirds, brown thrashers, and cardinals all nearby taking interest in it.
My first thought was grouse! Looking up online, I thought maybe also a quail. I've never seen either of those in person that I can recall. But also the possibility of some kind of juvenile heirloom chicken, since I have or had a neighbor a few houses down from where I used to hear a rooster crowing.
I managed to go outside without scaring it off, and got more photos. It kept walking quickly back and forth along my fence. I began to feel sorry for it. It wants to go somewhere but can't get through the fence. If it is a juvenile, where are its parents? How did it get in my yard!???
Now I've determined it looks exactly like a female bobwhite quail, so it must be one. I also got a short recording of its call, also matching what I found online for a bobwhite quail song.
It also started thundering. So I likely won't be cleaning out my gutters today. But where will the quail go if it storms?
Then I get up and spy an unusual bird in my yard, and spend the next 2+ hours taking photos and looking up what it could be.
I first noticed it from a lot of bird chirping. It was on the ground while many birds were flying into and away from the little tree it was under. I couldn't figure out if they felt endangered by it and were trying to scare it away, or if they were likewise curious about it like me. In the meantime, I saw mockingbirds, brown thrashers, and cardinals all nearby taking interest in it.
My first thought was grouse! Looking up online, I thought maybe also a quail. I've never seen either of those in person that I can recall. But also the possibility of some kind of juvenile heirloom chicken, since I have or had a neighbor a few houses down from where I used to hear a rooster crowing.
I managed to go outside without scaring it off, and got more photos. It kept walking quickly back and forth along my fence. I began to feel sorry for it. It wants to go somewhere but can't get through the fence. If it is a juvenile, where are its parents? How did it get in my yard!???
Now I've determined it looks exactly like a female bobwhite quail, so it must be one. I also got a short recording of its call, also matching what I found online for a bobwhite quail song.
It also started thundering. So I likely won't be cleaning out my gutters today. But where will the quail go if it storms?