gone for awhile

...but back again.

Blogger-the hosting site for this blog has had a problem for a couple of days, so I have not been able to access my blog. I wasn't sure if it was a situation just on my end (novice that I am) but I was given a little help from a friend and found out that Blogger was having some trouble. So, it seems to be back up and running and I'm just glad they fixed it, instead of me having to stumble my way around the technology juggernaut that is in my head.

Speaking of back again. I had some little visitors the other morning. I saw this guy first, standing tall on one of the chairs on the back patio. He has bobbing his head back and forth, keeping watch out for predators. Kind of like me, when I am outside.

Remember this little guy with the wobbly legs? I bet he was looking at his dad wondering... will my little fuzzy mohawk ever look like the great plume on my dad's head?
And the rest of the little quail family. Remember them?
They are growing up.
It looks like only five are left, assuming it is the same family. I have not seen them since the day they hatched and did their crazy four foot free fall to the ground. What did happen though is something got into the pot and feasted on the left over shells. It is a rough wildlife world out there.

The big male bird that was keeping watch from the edge of the chair was an extra. Maybe he is a grandpa or an uncle, because there was a female and a male(mom and pop) that stayed with the little ones on the ground. The extra guy just kept watch, mumbling and squawking once in awhile. Which by the way, these birds are noisy! Especially at 4:45 every morning. I will not complain about it though because the nights have been so pleasantly cool that we are able to leave the windows and door open in our bedroom. I love sleeping like that. So, even though they wake us up very early, I just put a pillow over my head and go back to sleep. I dread the long hot summer with everything closed up and the air conditioner running. We have been lucky, we have only put the air on once so far.
It was cute to watch the young quail pecking around in the grass. It is surprising how big they have gotten in such a short amount of time. A little while later they all took off over the fence, so yes...they did learn how to fly. As much as quail fly anyway. I was glad I spotted them at least once again since they left. I'm sure that we will see another nest next spring.

As for other wildlife sightings...it has been pretty quiet around here. Leah saw another gila monster on a friend's driveway here in the neighborhood. That puts her count up to five! The friend, who has lived here a long time, said that was the first one he had ever seen. Like I said...hang around us and you will see them. I think we are gila magnets.

Well, like the baby quail, I think I pecked around here long enough... time for me to fly!