The Blue Jays, Forest Park

September 24, 2013

I was walking to meet Eliot Miller and his girlfriend, Sarah, both of whom are postdocs in bird science; Eliot is studing at UMSSL, and called me over to go birding with them.

I suddenly heard a lot of disturbance in a tree nearby, and stopped to investigate. Here’s what I saw:

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Two

BLUE JAYS

were having a major altercation in the tree; I never did find out why! Though Blue Jays are bright blue, they managed to still camouflage themselves well in the tree: DSC08389 DSC08390 As they moved around, scolding, I managed to get a few more shots: DSC08392 Round and round they went, hopping, yelling at each other (there seemed to be no other intruder.) DSC08396

Thanks to the West Nile virus, Jay populations have been decimated, and I don’t find these beautiful birds as often as I used to:

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I enjoyed my interlude with the Jays as I went onwards to look at more birds, in the company of Eliot and Sarah.

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