A few years back I was hiking up the backside of this mountain. I stumbled upon a pair of quail in my path. I remember the surprise that there was anything wild still alive on this island and then immediate dread for these amazing birds when I thought about the rampant hunting that goes on here. With no one to enforce hunting laws (indeed, there isn't even an officer of any kind on the island) I was sure that the quail scuttling into the brush ahead of me would be gone by the end of spring.

You can image my surprise when last summer, early in the morning, I saw 8 quail wandering past my front door! This photo is of one I captured (in an image) on my driveway. They were amazing. They worked together. One would fly forward and scope it out and then the other would follow. This one was the scout.

They are now nesting on the cliffside safe, at least for now, from hunters.

Be well....

Tags: quail, hunters, island,