This morning early I accidently disturbed a party of 5 small plain dark-brown “quail” . I can recognise painted button-quail, and it wasn’t them. But they were the size and shape of quail, the legs, beaks and tails were short, making them quite stumpy looking little birds. They really had no distinguishing features. Their wings made a bit of noise as they flew off (but not as loud as a crested pigeon).
They flew off in several directions but quite close to the ground, leaving me apologising profusely for disturbing them. It all happened too quickly for me to get a look at any one of them through a lens. The actual spot was about halfway between Cygnus Hide and the south fence in the unmown long grass.
Margaret Leggoe
