Quail eggs hatched

The end of July I was weeding in my flowerbed and came across a nest of quail eggs.  First I saw the clutch of about a dozen eggs.  I jumped up and ran to get my neighbor. When we came back, I couldn't find the eggs. 

The hen was sitting on them.  Unfortunately I cut down her hiding place.  The iris leaves were gone but she stayed.  I looked online and learned the gestation period was 23 days.  I stopped gardening around her but thought, "Why do you even need to sit there, it's so hot?"

A few days later our grandkids came down.  I was so excited to show off  the mother quail and her nest.  The very next evening we took Andrew and Ashley to view them.  Surprising all we saw were the remains - broken egg shells.  In that 24 hour period the cheepers and their mother left the nest.

A few days later Jed and his children saw a quail and some chicks running on the ground along the back fence line, with the father quail running on the top of the fence doing guard patrol.  

Isn't nature great?