Saturday, July 18, 2009

As the quail turns…

But first—have I mentioned that my pond is infested with bees?

Turtle bee2 7-15-2009 4-05-35 AM 2112x1586

They come to soak themselves, then fly back to the hive, where they act as living cooler pads, standing around while other bees beat their wings, creating a cool, moist breeze. The ones that soak themselves gather on rocks in the pond, and, lately, around the mouth of my spitting turtle. There are hundreds of them.  Click for a really gross closeup.

As for the quail, I think I will quite worrying about them. Despite a few really strong storms, the numbers of chicks seem undiminished. The families literally line up to use the quail block, and they come in waves, with one, two, three, a dozen chicks. After they eat, if there’s no squabbling, they all drink their fill, then wipe both sides of their beaks on rocks. If there’s no territorial squabbling, they then fluff and groom themselves almost like cats.

6 comments:

  1. You have probably saved the whole species with your hawk shield. the bees are indeed gross, but if they are making honey, do we care?

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  2. or even if they are only out pollinating, we like that too.

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  3. This is the 3rd day in a row I have seen a blended quail family. 2 dads, one on each end of the line and only 1 mama. There are about 9 grade school chicks, that number doesn't change. I see them in the back & front yard. I am fairly sure it is the same family.

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  4. When I realized that the turtle wasn't really a live turtle, it became less gross. And actually, I'd like to a MUCH CLOSER close-up. Then maybe it wouldn't be gross at all. How can the bees get soaked without being spewed out with the force of the water jet? Maybe there is a fine spray that one could see with greater magnification. But all of this is fascinating, in a season when we ALL need air conditioning.

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  5. The quail family continues to thrive and a melded family - 2 dads, one mom and 8 chicks. This morning they were all on the back wall, all fluffed up because it was 69 degrees. Then mom took them to my compost pile which is a thriving bug colony. Yum, breakfast.

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  6. This image brings to mind Canto III of Inferno

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