Subject: [Tweeters] Baby Quails First Dust Bath
Date: Thu Jul 11 15:04:53 PDT 2019
From: mary hrudkaj - mch1096 at hotmail.com

Just now dad mountain quail and 3 chicks were feeding just outside my window. They moseyed out to the driveway area where dad kept guard while the chicks wandered around being kids. Dad must have felt secure enough to indulge in a dust bath in an area where there had been a raised bed but is now just sandy soil flush with the rest of the yard. He was scratching and wallowing away when one chick ran back across the driveway to see what pa quail was up to. That chick watched for a couple seconds then joined in the dust bathing. A second chick ran across the road too to see what was going on. It too took up the dust bathing following dad's lead. The third chick came over to the dry area, scratched a moment then set down on the dirt like a little kid at the beach with a sand castle to build. Dad and the first two chicks got to scratching and throwing the sandy dirt around until they were all the same shade of khaki. Apparently all are happy now and have moved out of my sight. Like father like child even in the world of quail.

This is the first it's been dry enough since the little ones hatched to make a good dust bath. One could almost hear the chick saying 'gee, this looks like fun'.

Quail watching outside Belfair.

Mary Hrudkaj
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