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Blue jays, smart, not greedy.

1/28/2021

After posting to the Pennsylvania Birding Facebook group a photo titled "Greedy jay," I was politely admonished for using the adjective by other users on the page.

"Smart jays cache food for future times. This is not greed," one user responded.

"Greedy, yes, but smart, to pick the biggest ones he can carry," was another response.

The blue jay is part of the family Corvidae which also includes crows according to The Cornell Lab's All About Birds website, www.allaboutbirds.org.

An article on the site titled "Where Is That Bird Going With That Seed? It’s Caching Food for Later" by Shailee Shah describes how and why some birds like the blue jay cache food for later.

Shah wrote " ... the most fascinating reason is “caching” — the behavior of storing up food supplies in a safe place for later.

This is one of the main reasons you see birds fly off with their food instead of eating at the feeder—they are setting up a personal 'insurance policy.'"

"Caching is like a giant game of concentration. Caching isn’t as straight-forward as it might appear.

A bird must not only fly back and forth, one or a few seeds at a time, over hundreds of trips.

They also have to make sure the caches aren’t stolen and remember where all the food is hidden when hunger comes a-calling.

Most common North American feeder birds can have anywhere from hundreds to thousands of separate caches scattered around their home ranges," Shah continued.

Shah posted that blue jays have a specialized adaptation, a distensible esophagus, to help them become master long-term cachers.

The expandable pouch in their throat and upper esophagus is called a crop.

It would seem that some jays in the state are headed toward the goal of being master cachers.

"Our jays will pick up as high as seven peanuts before moving on," one poster responded on the Pennsylvania Birding page.

Aside from their caching abilities, jays have other interesting traits.

In an article titled "22 facts about blue jays" at birdfeederhub.com, the author posted that "blue jays aren’t actually blue."

"Blue jays are identifiable by the crest on their heads and their blue, white, and black plumage. The dark pigment in their feathers is melanin. A trick of the light causes the blue color in their feathers. Scattering light through modified cells on their feather barbs’ surface makes their feathers appear to be blue," the post claimed.

This statement is backed up by a facts page on the All About Birds' site.

"The pigment in blue jay feathers is melanin, which is brown. The blue color is caused by scattering light through modified cells on the surface of the feather barbs," said the post on allaboutbirds.org.

Another site said that folks could wet down a blue jay feather and see for themselves that it would turn brown. I will have to wait until one of the jays that visit my feeder to shed a feather. I'm definitely sure it would be frowned upon to hose down a blue jay.

All About Birds also mentioned that blue jays can live a long time.

"The oldest known wild, banded Blue Jay was at least 26 years, 11 months old when it was found dead after being caught in fishing gear. It had been banded in the Newfoundland/Labrador/St. Pierre et Miquelon area in 1989 and was found there in 2016," the post said.

"Blue jays make a variety of musical sounds, and they can do a remarkable imitation of the scream of a red-shouldered hawk," said a post on www.audubon.org.

Local longtime birder Gary Edwards' echoes this statement in his book Birds of Venango County.

"Excellent mimics, they are especially adept at imitating the red-shouldered hawk. At feeders, they serve as sentinels but are not adverse to giving a false alarm to obtain the feeder for themselves."

I would think that type of action is akin to yelling "fire" in a crowded theater. Also, technically their caching habit could also be considered hoarding. They also have been know to rob eggs and young out of the nests of other birds.

Nonetheless, it's not blue jay bashing.

It's just the blue jays’ nature and that’s just the nature of things ‘round here.

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Icy reception

1/27/2021

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We were greeted on Tuesday morning with freezing drizzle. Walking on the snow covered path wasn't bad, but anything that was stone and asphalt was challenging.

It was also a struggle to get frozen gate latches open especially when impatient canines were ready to go no matter the weather.

Evergreen trees were bending low with branches touching the ground. I went to try to get a shot of ice covered larch cones. However when I traveled toward the tree, the goats followed.

They proceeded to try to debark the tree which can result in damage. An argument and chase ensued. On top of that the photos of the cones didn't even turn out. I guess that's just the nature of things.

As we continued through the woods it was neat to see how the forest was transformed into an icy landscape. Tree branches were smooth with ice. The freezing precipitation coated just about everything.

Pops of color were provided by some winterberries and multiflora rose hips. Most of the native winterberries have served as food for wildlife. It was a little hard to locate a shrub with any berries still on it.

In contrast, the invasive multiflora roses seemed to be untouched by any critters.

Earlier in the week, I was able to snap a photo of a deer I have dubbed "the broken horn" buck.

He had both horns before the rut, but appeared on the game camera afterwards with a broken horn.

It is hard to tell, but I suspect he may even be the buck that was "nursing" this past year.

Meanwhile, the temperatures rose and the ice coatings disappeared.

Then it got cold and froze up again.

That's just the nature of things 'round here.

Special thanks to Buffalo Street Lanes for your support of Eight & 322.

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Fluff and puff

1/22/2021

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"American Tree Sparrows are small, round-headed birds that often fluff out their feathers, making their plump bodies look even chubbier," said a post on Cornell Lab's All About Birds website, allaboutbirds.org.

While round-headed, plump and chubby aren't necessarily flattering words, they are an accurate description of one of our area's winter visitors.

The site also said, "a dark smudge in the center of the unstreaked breast is common."

I had not noticed this smudge until a Facebook user commented on one of my posts to a Pennsylvania birding page.

Now, I can see the smudge just about every time I glimpse the puffed up sparrows.

As winter birds, they have frequented my feeder and yard for several years. I have photos from of the small winter birds from 2013 and beyond. This year there are three to four who visit somewhat regularly.

"American Tree Sparrows breed in the far north and are rarely seen south of northern Canada in summer," All About Birds posted.

Again I turned to the book "Birds of Venango County" by longtime area birder Gary Edwards for some local facts about this winter traveler.
Edwards wrote that the uncommon winter resident arrives in early November and departs by early May.

Edwards also penned that there is a period of time in the fall, as early arrivals of tree sparrows overlap with late departing chipping sparrows, where the two different types of birds can be mistaken for each other.

He wrote that the tree sparrows "numbers fluctuate greatly from year to year."

Meanwhile, I will enjoy viewing the three or four tree sparrows that visit for the winter in my yard, because one never knows if they will choose to visit next winter or not.

That's just the nature of things 'round here.

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Taking it slow and silent

1/22/2021

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A slowdown at work has resulted in some extra time to take things at a more leisurely pace.

One walk daily turned into two with the morning trek being the more relaxed of the two.

While the snow pack wasn't deep enough to really restrict movements, it was enough to take some time for careful footing.

As I placed my steps, I enjoyed stopping to look around.

One particular morning it seemed as though we were inside of a snow globe.

Large flakes fell softly from the sky as if I was watching the scene in slow motion.

Wednesday evening provided me the opportunity to use a snow globe of my own to capture the colorful sunset.

The snow dampened noise of curious canines sniffing in the snow.

Although admittedly, my winter headgear impaired my hearing a bit. It also blocked my peripheral vision.

I have been know to call and call for one of the dogs only to turn and see a very confused canine right at my side. I always have the same response with a giggle, "Oh, you're right there."

Glimpses of the sun throughout the past week offered the chance to use the light to accentuate the sparkling snow.

The frigid days while bright, were also very quiet. I heard only the trees cracking in the cold and goats munching on branches.

However despite my hat, it has been very peaceful in the woods.

Occasionally I would observe the tracks of wildlife that use our path when we are back in our warm home.

Some mornings we would move a few deer here and there. They were usually far off and kept their distance.

I wondered if the deer looked at my posse and thought "What a weird herd?".

Nonetheless, Sherman broke the silence on Friday morning. The Saint Bernard has been known to "cry wolf" or bark at things that may or may not be there.

He was barking up the hillside. I stopped and looked around.

The only thing I viewed was Clem doing his "business" a ways off the trail. Sherman apparently had not paid attention that it was Clem who had traveled off the path.

Poor Clem was very confused and wanted to run to see what Sherman was barking at. However, he was very much indisposed at the moment.

I then broke out in laughter as Clem raced off the hill and all the dogs tried to figure out what all the commotion was about. The goats were unfazed as always.

That's just the nature of things 'round here

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Winter bold, summer gold

1/17/2021

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While I sat around last week waiting for some sunshine and searching for color, some fine-feathered friends offered a bright spot.

While the American goldfinches weren't as colorful as they typically are in the summer, they still showed just a little bit of their gold.

Goldfinches are often thought of as a summer bird, but here in my yard they visit all year round.

However, that is not to say that they are the same birds year round.

"I seemed to have more goldfinches in the summer than in the winter. "

Information from local birder Gary Edwards' book "Birds of Venango County" described the finches as a common feeder bird and a year-round resident.

Edwards wrote that the finches are some of the later nesters with their nesting activity starting in July in conjunction with the production of thistle seeds.

He also penned that there have been some finch nests still active as late as early September.

So it would be possible to have goldfinch fledglings hanging around into early fall.

As early as mid April, the finches trade their drabber olive plumage for their summer gold.

According to my observations, I seemed to have more goldfinches in the summer than in the winter.

They utilized the feeders and the garden plants.

They fed on the catnip mint seeds and the sunflower seeds even before the flowers were done blooming.

Sometimes they raised such a clamor. Last spring and summer, they perched in the old hemlock tree in large numbers. It seemed as if the who tree was chattering.

In the winter, they were a little quieter. However, that didn't keep them from squabbling at each other at the feeder.

Meanwhile some recent snowfalls have quieted things down in the woodlands.

Nonetheless, the snowfall excited the canines, who raced around and tore a toy frog apart.

That's just the nature of things 'round here.

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On ice

1/10/2021

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The sun finally decided to emerge from hibernation. The brighter skies shed some light on one of Clem's winter pastimes, ice fishing. Although, it's really more like fishing for ice chunks in the neighbor's pond.

Clem loves ice. He begs for ice cubes when Mother Nature doesn't freeze things outside. He eagerly chews up the ice when the dogs' outside water dishes turn solid.

The downside of having a doggie door is that sometimes things that are meant to be inside sometimes end up outside and things that are meant to be outside end up inside.

Clem found a chunk of ice that fell from the roof and decided to bring it inside. I tried to take the ice chunk back outside. Clem brought it back inside. I took it back out. This went on until the ice melted into a puddle on the kitchen floor. We both lost at that point.

Meanwhile, Clem was overjoyed that the neighbor's pond has mostly frozen over.

I had refrained from letting the dogs on the pond ice for a while now due to warmer temps.

However, recently I decided to let them try skating around the edge.

During previous winters Saint Bernard Sherman would take short cuts across the ice on the pond. So far this winter Shortcut Sherman had refrained from his ice crossing. He decided to test the ice on Sunday in one of the more shallower areas.

Sadie was cautious and stayed toward the shoreline.

Clem was slightly more adventurous, but still didn't venture far. He was at a slight disadvantage since a recent visit to the vet resulted in his nails being clipped.

Without the extra traction, he was slipping and sliding a bit. However, that did not deter his adventurous soul. The boisterous bloodhound then went to the area of the pond that was only partially frozen. He proceeded to break the ice until he could fish a chunk out to chew on.

The goats steer clear of the ice and prefer to traverse on more solid ground.

Nevertheless, one trail camera captured a very grainy nighttime shot of a racoon on ice.

Some recent sunshine provided light to illuminate some of nature's abstract ice art.

Mother Nature created and remade this art daily depending on the temperatures.

It seemed every morning there was a different piece only to be melted by the same sun that brought it into the light.

In the meantime, the bird feeder also seemed to be busier since the sun appeared after its hiatus. A bright yellow sunflower feeder provided a nice pop of color as did a red-bellied woodpecker..

After my bird watching or stalking session, I turned to see a disgruntled Wiggles the cat staring at me through a chain-link fence. Apparently she wanted to be free to do some bird watching of her own.

However, her watching also involves eating. She will have to remain behind the fence.

That's just the nature of things around here.

Thank you to our first sponsor, The Buffaloa Street Lanes. Your support of local story telling is very much appreciated.

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Author

"The Nature of Things" features the writings and photographs of Anna Applegate, who is a lifelong resident of Pinegrove Township, Venango County. She is a graduate of Cranberry High School and Clarion University. After a 15-year career in the local news industry, she made a change and now works at a steel finishing plant in Sandycreek Township. She is a avid lover of animals and nature, and a gifted photographer.

Very happy to be able to share Anna's great "The Nature of Things" blog.

Check out Anna's other artwork here!

Blue jays, smart, not greedy.

Icy reception

Fluff and puff

Taking it slow and silent

Winter bold, summer gold

On ice

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