It was a quail so I ate crow
Bobwhite quail
A few days ago my wife and I were sitting on our back patio enjoying a cool breeze and listening to the birds.
We live in a typical suburban neighborhood in west Edmond with as many homes as possible squeezed together on a parcel of land.
It’s not exactly a wildlife sanctuary but we’ve seen an owl, have a family of rabbits in the neighborhood along with a number of birds, including cardinals, doves and those annoying grackles.
But that night on the patio my wife detected an unusual sound. A sound that’s she never heard before in Edmond. The distinctive whistle of a bobwhite quail.
“Listen,” she said excitedly. “That’s a quail!”
I agreed it did sound like a bobwhite, but quail in an Edmond neighborhood?
Now, several years ago a bobwhite and her babies did cross in front of me while driving on Covell Road in north Edmond, but I told her that she had to be mistaken.
There must be another bird that sounds similar to a quail, I said, because there is no way a bobwhite would be in this neighborhood.
Two days later I walked out my front door and my neighbors across the street got my attention.
They wanted to know if I knew what that was walking in our neighbor’s yard.
Sure enough, it was a quail. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a wild bobwhite, but it was still quite a sight to see.
I had to call my wife to tell her that she was right and I was wrong. It wasn’t the first time that’s happened.
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