On the morning of July 4th I packed my bags for my trip to the east coast and the annual Adams Family Road Race. Gus had packed the camera the night before but as I hurried about with last minute preparations I glanced out the den window to see the smallest little Gambel's Quail hatchlings I had seen yet. I quickly unpacked the camera, attached the 70 to 300mm lens and snapped of these darling photos. A perfect send off, don't you think? After all, this is a birding blog and a lot of toads have been making an appearance here lately!
So small! This little one looks like a fluffy golf ball with legs!
Two little chicks. You have to figure that patio block is only an inch or 2 thick!
It wasn't until I looked at these photos on the computer that I noticed something strange about the daddy's head. (Click to enlarge for a better view. )
So I cropped and enlarged the bird's head , then checked other photos of the male. Yep! he does have 2 plumes on his head! A 2-plumed Papa! Does that make him more desirable to the ladies?
12 comments:
No better send off than that! Adorable chicks and I envy you to get that close to quails. I hear them in the brush all the time (Hard not to!) but no dice in actually seeing one! Good shots!
Cheers, Klaus
The chicks are just so cute! And that's a pretty fancy headdress on Daddy!
Thank you for all your recent comments, and for leaving me your link (And thanks for bobbie, too, for helping me get conneted to more interestng people and blogs, like yours!) You asked about the Canadian mining company, I don't know of it, but I wish you well in fighting against it. The photo I used on that post was a mine in Australia. No place on the planet is immune to the ravages! As for the brackets, that was a big 'computer learning curve' I went around recently. They don't mean anything; I found out how to get rid of them, finally. But it seemed like too much work to go back an correct them all in both blogs, so anything prior to July 16/08 has got them. I'm glad to meet you, too, and look forward to seeing more of your words and birds! Cheers,
Deb
Beautiful AND adorable. Over the top jealous of your great AZ wildlife!
As for those double plumes, obviously they were attractive to at least one female :)
Cheers!
These are such precious and interesting photos. Great job! I think those two plumes would just be devastating to the ladies.
Great photos of the chicks.
Well done.
Excellent post and thanks for sharing.
Troy and Martha
Those Gambel Quail have to be some of the most photogenic birds ever. And, you found a two plummed male. Is that unusual for this variety? Pappy
Nah, He's just a blooming show off kathie. !! {:)
Great photos though.
klaus, it was a perfect send off!
bobbie, I didn't discover the headress until I looked at the photos on the computer. I was amazed.
Wren and quiet paths, apparently it worked for him! There were about 8 little chicks here that day.
Pappy, I think it is like Roy says, he's just a show off! It's very unusaul as far as I know.
Deborah, I've had a few of those learning curves myself! I thought it might be part of your poetry though.
Texas Travelers, Thanks! I think I'll travel over and see what's happening in your neck of the woods!
Hi Kathie - I wonder if it's posssible that these little chicks were only a day or two old. They definitely are quite small, and adorable. And do you think this was mama and papa's first or second brood of the season? I'm thinking if this was the fourth of July, there's still plenty of time to have another brood.
Mary, I think this is their second brood and this may have been the day they hatched. They were so small! I do not know if they will produce yet anotheh brood but I have seen babies of all ages pass beneath my feeders.
Oh, Kathie - to see so many quails in a season, especially the little ones. And with papa having two topknots, hopefully he'll be easy to spot from now on.
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