Hello!
The tales about the Steller's Jays reminded us that we saw two groups
earlier in the year at Mildred Kanipe County Park. The first
sighting was a group of about 25 jays on the hill above the
headquarters on February 13; they were roaming on the ground and in
the trees over an area of about an acre and we watched them for quite
a while. The second sighting was on March 25 on the upper part of
the Oak Savannah Trail where we saw about a dozen jays sitting in a
blooming hawthorne.
In our yard, two days ago we had a Black-throated Gray Warbler that
just wouldn't quit singing, but it was very hard to see as it flew
from tree to tree. Yesterday a Black-headed Grosbeak and an American
Goldfinch (both males) returned to our feeder for the first time this
spring; they were there at the same time - brilliant! This morning
we saw a very large bee at the rosemary flowers which turned out to
be the first Calliope Hummingbird we have seen on our property in the
20 years we have been here!
Bob and Jeannie Pollock
northwest of Roseburg
On Apr 28, 2015, at 11:10 PM, Matthew G Hunter wrote:
HI Folks,
This evening, looking through some eBird reports, and getting an
email from Stacy, I saw a pattern that I have seen in some years past.
1. An eBird report by Mikeal Jones from yesterday mentioned 10
Steller's Jays at his place, "all together, flying North and circling
a conifer roost before continuing on North and West."
2. Stacy's email to me mentioned a flock of 19 Steller's Jays
traveling through: "Also today, saw my first flock of Steller jays.
(I have 2 residents) They came into a tree close to me then
progressively moved to two more trees before they were beyond my
view. Upon leaving the 3rd tree I was able to count as they left-- 19!"
Perhaps others of you are seeing this now, or have in the past:
clearly cohesive, roaming/traveling groups of Steller's Jays. What
are they doing? Our locals should be nesting right now. I don't know
what these roaming bands are doing in late April. I looked up in
Birds of Oregon: A General Reference, and in the online Birds of
North America account, but only brief mention is made of the spring
phenomenon and no explanation. One data set in BNA indicated these
may mostly be year-old birds. ??? Who knows.
Anyway, this is an example of how pooling (sharing) our observations
can reveal trends, behaviors, phenomena that draw us to ask questions
and look a bit closer to understand more about the life and natural
history of these species, even something as "common" as a Steller's Jay.
Anyone else seeing traveling bands of Steller's Jays?
Matt
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