I love autumns in Southwestern Idaho. Our nights are down in the forties, but out days are still hitting the high seventies and even the low eighties. Leaves are starting to turn. I run my space heater on my cold feet in my office in the morning. I run the air conditioner to cool down the house again in late afternoon. Yeah. It’s a little crazy.
This week, the California Quail returned, en masse. We had about two dozen adults and teenagers in the common area behind our yard. And then someone told them the finches and sparrows drop lots of seeds in our yard, and so they dipped through the openings in our gate and made themselves at home. I took over 150 photographs (don’t you love digital cameras, knowing that it won’t cost you to have bad shots developed?). Here are just four of them.
Here they came, scampering under the wire and between the small openings between gate and fence.
These two quail decided to check out the magnetized stone sparrows on the fence. One got rather personal.
This is my favorite shot. The light was just right to show off this quail’s beautiful colors. (The stone sparrows are all one shade.)
Got to love the fall colors of the tree in the background and the merry color of our wind art (all you can see are the wheels).
And before I sign off and get back to my revisions, I need to tell you to mark your calendars for the Autumn Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt. You could win a Kindle Fire HDX or over 30 new novels and/or any of the bonus giveaways being offered by the authors. Come join us beginning at noon MDT on Friday, October 17. The hunt ends on Sunday evening at 11:59 pm. Stop #1 is on my web site at http://www.robinleehatcher.com.
Robin Lee Hatcher
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Lovely pics of the Quails Robin..they look very similar to our pigeons. I love seeing the Autumn leaves turn and then fall…makes a very pretty carpet (most times)
We are still using our heaters over here morning and evening…our weather is very changeable. Gale force winds yesterday (119 kms) and our suburb was one of the hardest hit with falling trees and houses losing their roofs.
Today was 18 degrees (a little chilly) and tomorrow promises to be a beautiful sunny day of 29 degrees(Celsius) so quite a variation with our temps at present.
Would like to ask if O/S Readers are eligible to enter the giveaways for the October Scavenger Hunt. I always love these ..so much fun for everyone..All I have to do now. is work out the time zones to correspond with South Aus, … in the early hours of Saturday morning,I suspect.LOL
Hi, Rosie. Brr. You are on your way out of winter, and we are on our way in, slowly but surely.
The overall prizes for the Scavenger Hunt are open anywhere that the US Postal Service can send books and where a Kindle can be used. Definitely available for you to enter. Many of the individual author bonus giveaways are restricted to the US, but I cannot tell you which ones.
My iPhone tells me that Sydney is 17 hours ahead of MDT. So if my math is correct (and don’t count on that), that means the hunt should start for you on Saturday at 5:00 AM and end on Monday at close to 5 PM.
We have the annual raptor migration going full swing here – I think I’ve seen 5 eagles in the past two weeks from our living room window. Lots of eagles, ospreys, hawks, falcons, owls, etc like to catch the updrafts from a long ridge on the north side of town. The Audubon Society comes and makes a count every year. The first wave of fall color (the maples) is already mostly gone now, but soon the popples should change.
Rachel, where is home to you? Are you in the Mountain West or Northwest? Your birds sound very similar to what we have.
Great photos, Robin! Those quail are really pretty.
I enjoy sprinkling birdseed on my deck (mainly the rails) because the birds visit often. My favorites are the cardinals, which always remind me of my sweet Parents (they loved birds—especially the redbirds).
I’m glad you’re enjoying a nice Autumn – – this is my favorite season, even though here in my part of Georgia we’re still waiting for those cooler temperatures, LOL. 😉
Hugs, Patti Jo
We don’t have Cardinals in our neck of the woods, but we have a close cousin, the Blue Jays, up in the mountains. I don’t think I have seen them down here in the valley.
I never expected to become a bird watcher, but I definitely have become one this year.
I hope our Indian summer lasts and lasts. I don’t like winter much, except when I can have a fire in the fireplace and be on the sofa with a good book. 🙂
Thanks for that Robin. We are into daylight saving now so clocks forwarded an hour, plus we are 30 mins behind Sydney making it 4:30AM for South Aus. Queensland ,on the other hand is usually the same time zone as Sydney,but they are now 30 mins behind South Aus as they don’t have daylight saving and neither do Western Aus ,as far as I’m aware…. You’ll have Aussies participating all round the clock for this competition. LOL
Is Idaho on MDT and do you have it all year round or do you have to change back when winter hits? Brrr!:)
Yes, Idaho is on Mountain Daylight Time right now. We fall back to “normal” time on November 2nd.
I love quail, Robin, they are the sweetest family birds. They pick up orphans and such. Beautiful shots!
Thanks, Sandy. I’ve posted nine more photos on Facebook, in addition to the ones shown here. They were so fun to watch.
Beautiful pictures.