Today I had another opportunity for photos. Got some but they are too far away. Did witness it hunting smaller birds flying over the field. Then later I was out on the terrace talking on the phone wit my Mom. Noticed a whole lotta turkey vultures gathering in a swirl in the sky-just circling like a tornado. There were a good 300 and they just kept gathering from the west. When it got to be about 500 they moved further east to gather with another couple thousand we saw off in the distance!! Couldnt believe it!!! Wish I could have got a picture for you Kathy!! Earlier in the year we were on our way to church. (our church building is in the middle of a field on the SW section of the Mojave Desert). A "dog" passed in front of us just on the property border of our church. Well it was a coyote and it had a turkey vulture in it's mouth!!! Thought it WAS a turkey at first. It was good to see the wild doing so well in it's natural surroundings!!! Have a great Friday. Love, Jules

Eleven babies is a big family to care for! They're keeping an eye on you, too - it always amazes me how birds pick up on the camera so quickly. Thanks for the pictures of devoted parents. Claire

i use the chicken scratch for my ground feeding birds and they keep it cleaned up. lots of juncos and sparrows and towhees and scrub jays and some woodpeckers after it everyday. but now have a buck deer coming thru also and he gets everything that they don't

Males trash-talking each other, defending females or family. Quail start with bonded pairs (or trios of one female and 2 males). While the pairs are getting matched up (early spring) there's a lot of this flappy-jumpy behavior. Then you see the pairs or trios strolling around. When you see mostly solo males in late spring you know the females are brooding. Then you see the family - the bonded adults and their chicks. These often have a preferred feeding path through the territory, with one family following another. The younger the chicks, the more defensive the males are against other males. It appears to me that the female controls the chicks and the male or males fend off predators and other quail. Lots of quail confronting quail at some feeding spots. Then they collect onto merged family groups - you will see various ages of chicks and several adults - called a covey. These often have a preferred feeding path through the territory, with one covey following another. Less defensive behavior. By early spring, the chicks are mature and it starts all over.