The annual show put on by Scrub Jays is in downtown Bend is at its peak now.
The oak trees on Wall & Bond streets are loaded with them and lesser numbers
of Steller's Jays as the birds fly in from all over the area to pick acorns
and then fly off with their treasures to cache for the winter. This morning
I stopped in front of the Courthouse on Bond street for 10 minutes and
counted over 90 "trips" in and out of the trees. While that represents at
least 45 birds coming and going, it is impossible to say how many individual
birds are represented. Some of them may make short flights and so could be
counted multiple times. Some birds obviously travelled farther distances.
Regardless of whether it is 20 birds, 30, 40 or 50, it is quite a show with
over 450 bird trips per hour from this site alone! I wouldn't be surprised
if a stray Blue Jay was there as well. I had one under similar
circumstances 5 or 6 years ago.
Tom Crabtree, Bend
