Jays and squirrels caching acorns

When I was a kid back in New Jersey I thought I got it right. I saw squirrels carrying acorns down from the huge White Oak in our back yard and burying them in the lawn.  Another day I saw a Blue Jay digging in the lawn and extracting an acorn: "That thieving jay was a no-good rascal who did not respect the squirrel's hard work and property!"  

Only later I learned that both the jay and the squirrel not only stored their acorns for the winter, but both were gifted with an almost unbelievable ability to remember where they buried them.

This past week an incident rekindled my memory of those events as I was birding in the "Lantana Patch," a favorite spot in the local Wounded Wetlands.

A Blue Jay flew down to a grassy spot from a Live Oak. He certainly had a mouth-full (I do not know whether the jay was a he or a she, but "it" seems too impersonal for my story). I could see two acorns in his beak and his throat was engorged with one or two more:

He began digging into the sod, and when he rose up he had only one acorn in his beak. Yet, his throat was still engorged:

 

His head bobbed down again and he came up with an empty bill, but still a swollen throat:

Again he thrust his bill down and seemed to be digging. Then he had a single acorn, which he deposited:

In a final gesture, he dropped a leaf on top of his cache,...

...checked out the site and looked around one last time, as if loading the GPS coordinates into its pea-sized brain, and flew off:

This behavior reminded me of the habits of the Pinyon Jays which flew in flocks over the Pinyon Pine-Juniper woodlands that surrounded our former home at 7000 feet (2134 meters) elevation in the mountains of New Mexico. 

If it had not been pointed out to me by one of the old timers, I would never have noticed something very weird about the association of these two tree species. The Pinyon Pine and Juniper often grew together as a pair. Curiously, the pine was almost always located on the south side of the other evergreen (often called "cedar") tree. 

Both tree species provide food for wildlife-- the Juniper has fleshy cones or "berries," eaten by birds and deer, while the Pinyon Pine produces cones which contain nutritious seeds, "pine nuts," popular in salads but the essential dietary item for Pinyon Jays. 

They harvest the nuts and deposit them in caches, usually on the south side of Junipers. Here the snow does not drift as deeply and melts rapidly because it is exposed to the sun. The left-over seeds sprout under the protection of the Junipers and may eventually overshadow them. 

For the record, here are the only two photos I have ever taken of a Pinyon Jay, in 2007 with my 2 megapixel Canon A-40 pocket camera. They look like small blue crows:

As I shot through a spotting scope, a Western (now Woodhouse's) Scrub-Jay joined it to provide a very lucky comparison:

Fog and pink skies before sunrise on December 15 over the lake in the Wounded Wetlands

Fog after sunrise on December 16 along the gravel road:

No surprise-- Thanks to the Coronavirus, we were "Home for Christmas!"

Happy Holidays, everyone!

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Linking to:

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Natasha Musing

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

Timeless Thursday

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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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Crops & Clips: 2020 Yard Birds

The Coronavirus lockdown has now been going on for nearly eight months. We have not seen our children and grandchildren (and great-grandchildren) in more than a year. Of course we have not seen the inside of a restaurant and usually order our groceries online for curbside pickup. 

Visits with family have been virtual, as have most of our medical encounters. The only human outsiders who have entered our home this year have been: a plumber, an electrician and a barber (or should I sound uppity and call her a hair stylist or beautician, which of course she is), all masked and so much appreciated.  

Our back yard has been another story. Over the years we have hosted crowds of visitors, feathered and furred. 

A distinguished visitor was a Wood Stork, twice this past week. This immature bird still has feathers on its head and upper neck, lacking in older birds:

Egyptian Geese have invaded in recent years:

Herons include this Tricolored...

...an adult Little Blue Heron, photographed through the window of the back sliding glass door...

...and an immature Little Blue Heron, far across the lake. Its characteristic bill-down "nearsighted" hunting posture made it easy to spot:

Flocks of Ring-billed Gulls will linger if the fishing is good:

Some Ring-bills flew in before sunrise on December 21

The adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds abandon their young to the care of their mates and migrate early. One appeared in November:

An immature male replaced the adult this past week. He has a speckled throat, while that of the female is clear white:

An Osprey swooped low over our back patio:

A Great Blue Heron posed for a moment before flying off:

A Great Egret foraged across the lake:

Our most numerous long-legged wader species has been the White Ibis:

Almost as common are the established feral Muscovy Ducks. We can't fly out, but they they can fly in:

Mama Muscovy rests on our goose decoy:

The goose seems not to mind all these critters riding on his back--

...a Double-crested Cormorant adult, showing off his double "crests:"

...a Mottled Duck hen, whose drake was reluctant to join her:

...Anhingas, recently a youngster, and back in 2014 before our duck decoy "drowned," a spread-winged adult female:

...in 2016, a Spotted Sandpiper:

...and way back in 2012, a Great Blue Heron:

Our only (visible) furry creature this year has been a Gray Squirrel:

The view at sunrise, December 21 from our "wildlife viewing platform:"

 

Our tabletop Nativity scene. Merry Christmas!

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Linking to:

Fences Around the World

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Natasha Musing

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

Timeless Thursday

________________________________________________

Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
________________________________________________

Chapel Trail Nature Preserve

Although I have been unable to lead the "First Saturday" wetland walks at Chapel Trail Nature Preserve in nearby Pembroke Pines, I try to get out there at least once every week. I go early and only on weekdays. This affords less contact with other visitors so that social distancing is not a problem. 

The extensive wet prairies in the preserve have suffered from high water conditions due to unusually heavy rain which included a visit from Tropical  Storm Eta. High water disperses fish and other prey items, so the herons and other wading birds must search widely and are not as concentrated as is usually the case as the winter dry season advances. 

Last week I saw only sixteen bird species. This time of year, twenty or more would be the norm. The second of two Great Egrets flew in and settled in the spikerush (actually, technically classified as a sedge and not a rush) which blankets the prairie:

The other Great Egret, resting on the canoe dock, showed signs that it was approaching breeding condition: trailing plumes,  green lores and brightened yellow beak with darkening tip: 

The most common bird species seen was the Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler. Flocks of five or six and up to 10 or 12 individuals moved together from tree to tree in the upland areas. Their winter plumage is greatly subdued as compared to their bold black, white and yellow breeding colors. Females have brown backs during winter, and first year birds have dull plumage. Some are very pale, like this specimen:

Others are dark brown, like this female. The intensity of their yellow rump and lateral breast patches also varies:

Winter male:

Immature, sex undetermined:

In any plumage, their namesake "butter-butt" rump patch is usually obvious:

This is a spring male Yellow-rump which I encountered in Illinois:

Three other warbler species were present--

Northern Parula male...:

...Prairie Warbler...

...and Palm Warbler:

Through the brush, I obtained a clear view of a Brown Thrasher which eyed me apprehensively: 

Exotic Gray-headed Swamphens foraged on the roots and tender stems  of the spikerush. They were persecuted and subjected to an eradication campaign in which over 3,000 were shot because it was feared that they would decimate this plant, which is a mainstay in the ecology of the Everglades. In fact, the sedge appears to be flourishing, as are the swamphens:

They habitually flick their tails upward to reveal the white under-tail coverts. Like a flashing taillight, this can make them easy to find amid the spikerush:

One swamphen took flight and provided a blurry image:

I remembered this photo of a pair of Gray-headed Swamphens reflecting in still water at Chapel Trail, back in October, 2014. Yes, there are only two birds here:

Native relatives of the alien swamphens, American Coots took turns diving:

Another member of the rail, moorhen and coot family (Family Rallidae), a Common Gallinule (formerly called Moorhen) retreated through the sedges:

An Anhinga spread its wings as it occupied a post near the dock:

Soon the male Anhinga will develop green breeding-season "goggles," as modeled by one I photographed in early January:

In the adjacent dry pasture, my favorite Longhorn cow grazed. I assumed that the white heron nearby was a Cattle Egret, but close inspection on my computer screen revealed it has a bluish gray bill with a black tip, characteristics of an immature Little Blue Heron:

Nearby, her calf is starting to sprout horns:

On the way out of the preserve, a passing shower spawned a rainbow, visible from the parking lot:

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Linking to:

Fences Around the World

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Natasha Musing

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

Timeless Thursday

________________________________________________

Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
________________________________________________