Gambel's Quail

Mr. & Mrs. Quail stopped by our site late yesterday afternoon to check out what was available to eat.  The Mr. is easy to recognize with his black belly splotch and mask and a cinnamon-brown cap.  They brought along about twenty of their extended family members and together thoroughly scavenged the area, particularly under our newly set up suet feeder.  They are a curious bird to watch, preferring to walk everywhere rather than fly.  A common site in the campground, they move from site to site in mass pecking away at the ground. Most times a lone sentinel stands watch on a post or high view point ready to call an alarm of an impending threat.