The Covey In My Front Yard

Last year, a covey of quail moved in to my front yard.  There were at least six chicks and at least two adults.  Both had drab coloring, so they seemed to both be females.  Then, a neighborhood cat was seen around the area for several weeks, and The Wife and I feared that the cat had dined upon our state birds.

Well yesterday I saw another covey of at least six quail, all adults, again in the front yard, seeking shelter from the winds.  I could hear that they were there again this morning as I drank my coffee, cooing as they scampered about the yard searching for food.

Was it the same birds as last year?  Obviously I've no way to tell; I can't approach them because they fly away when I do, and I can't see any tags on their spindly little quail legs.  It pleases me to think that they are the same, though, and that the cat didn't get them all.  It's pleasing to have birds make their homes in your home.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons, by Len Blumin (cc 2.0).