Mike in the Wild

An explosion of air startled me as I watered a backyard pot teeming with aloe vera plants.  I had inadvertently disturbed a Gambel's quail hidden in the foliage, triggering her into a sudden flight.  When I discovered her clutch of eleven tiny eggs nestled below the intertwining aloe arms, I immediately directed my garden hose into the cacti growing in some neighboring pots.  Over the next four weeks I endeavored to keep the nest off limits to everyone except the mother quail.   Initially I was concerned that the quail had completely abandoned my backyard and, subsequently, her nest.  However by the next day I observed a female quail periodically walking along the wall above the potted aloes.  And then a day or two later, when I poked my nose a little too closely into the plants, I scared the mother bird away yet again.  A short time after, I thankfully saw a single female quail, apparently the mother, return to the area. The first encounter began...