Thursday This, That; TBT

 

I have heard the bird for about six weeks and have even asked in another blog post if anyone had any idea what the one-syllable tweet could be.  

My friend Becky suggested a flicker, but this sound is different. 

I could hear the bird almost every day up and down the Meserve Preserve fence line but never could pinpoint exactly where it was to see it. 

Last night I heard the distinct tweet out by the road, so I grabbed my camera, hoping that I would at last see the actual bird. 

Pay dirt!  

I looked over and there the plump bird, looking somewhat like a grouse, sat on the mailbox frame and OH SO BEAUTIFUL. 

It remained there long enough for me to take three or four photos and then flew off to the south, landing in the roadside.  

In the meantime, thrilled that I had finally nabbed an image, I enlarged the image on my camera.  

Bill was sitting at his desk inside when I showed him an enlarged image. 

Without much thought, he said, "California quail!" 

Next, he looked up the species and its sound on his laptop, and, sure enough, the laptop sound matched what I've been hearing and wondering about for weeks. 

Bill noted that usually these birds are in a covey.  We don't know if there are others, but we do know that a very pretty bird with its distinctive tweet has been hanging around for weeks. 

And, now we know what it looks like. 

We're also wondering if any of the neighbors have been raising quail. 

When we lived over on Great Northern Road, Bill raised a few pheasants and some quail. 

This fun piece in the Sandpoint Reader by our friend Marcia reminded me of the Driftwood Restaurant (just across the Idaho-Montana border near Comptonville)  salad dressing recipe from many years ago.   

If I remember correctly, Patricia McManus Gass raved to my mother about it and maybe even gave her the recipe.  It was perfect to pour (right before eating) over fresh tossed green salads.  

I don't know where the recipe would be among my mother's belongings, but I do remember mixing it up back in the day when we fed the hay hands two sumptuous farm meals a day.

I know that it had oil and onions and vinegar and some sugar, along with bacon bits. 

Twas so good. 

I wonder if the Driftwood folks "invented" the recipe like Marcia's family reputation (noted in the link below) for inventing fry sauce.   

https://sandpointreader.com/the-sandpoint-eater-food-facts-or-fiction/

Thursday Throwbacks:  fun fotos of people, places and happenings from past times. Enjoy. And, do try scrolling with the music. For some reason I can identify with this song today.