a little surprise

This plant sits on this stone pedestal in the front courtyard. It doesn't seem to require much attention and looks quite pretty. Lately we have been noticing dirt and little rocks that are being "kicked" out of the pot. The dirt was littering the ground around the pedestal. We weren't sure what was making the mess and never saw any other evidence that something was getting in to it. I kept glancing out the window throughout the day, hoping to catch sight of something. One day, I actually heard a little commotion of sorts, and so I went to the front door to see what all the fluttering fuss was all about.

This is what I found:

The picture is not very clear as I was taking it through the glass and the screen on the door. But, you can see that it is a quail. In fact, it is hard to tell but there were two of them in there. They are all over around our yard and driveway all the time. In fact, the front entry gate has two tiles with quails painted on them. I guess they have been frequent visitors for a long time. They are really cute little things and scurry around so quickly. They make great little noises too. Any way, they caught site of me and scooted out of the plant. But, as days went by I could tell that they had been back, because again, dirt and little rocks were scattered on the ground.

This past weekend I was out there sweeping up some leaves and the dirt mess and I looked in the pot and WOO HOO! Look what I saw...

This morning I looked out the window and she was sitting in there. Another quail flew in and caused a bit of a scene. She jumped out and was sitting on the stone pedestal looking a little funny. She was all puffed up and kind of hunkered down. I wondered if the other quail had hurt her. After she flew off I went out to look and... more eggs! Five total. How cool is that? I think the second bird disturbed her egg laying.

I need to do some research and find out what kind of quail they are and how long before these might hatch.

I know you are thinking..."I bet she will take more pictures and share what she learns after she does more research. And I bet if they actually hatch... we will get to see the baby quail."

Yep, that's eggsactly what I plan to do.