Tails

Our Blue Jays are bold, brash, clever and beautiful.  And still, not everyone likes them.  They are related to crows and with that comes a certain amount of baggage for some; although not for me.  I think there is a pair nesting somewhere nearby as I see two coming to the water and suet feeder throughout the day.  With luck, I'll see babies soon.  Meanwhile, the blue jays are being randomly attacked by both the robins and catbirds who also have nests nearby.  I watched the male robin sit up in a tree yesterday, just waiting for one of the blue jays to show up.  As soon as the jay arrived, the robin rained down holy hell on it, never mind that the jay is bigger.  Of course, what the robins and catbirds seem to know is that jays, like all corvids, are omnivores and this means that they will happily rob nests of freshly hatched babies.  

It has been nearly smoke-free today, a welcome change.  Sun with scattered clouds and we were able to see both!  I've spent most of the day outside pottering around and just enjoying the weather.  I saw the fox several times today, both times near the patio where I suspect he was looking for squirrels or chipmunks.  I was tipped off the second time by the birds who were all scolding and sounding the alarm - so when I looked up and saw the fox about 30 feet away, it wasn't a huge shock.  Of course, I had a macro lens in my hand which is of no use on a fox at that distance.  Oh well.

We had a rather terrifying event yesterday when I went to pick Jax up.  The main house where the owner of the day care lives is having new siding put on and there was a rather large work crew there.  As I was leaving with Jax, headed to my car, one of the workers tossed a big piece of siding into a dumpster and Jax completely spooked, pulling free of his collar and bolting.  Thankfully, he headed straight to the door of the day care office where one of the girls who works there was able to slip a lead on him.  My heart was in my throat when he took off - he was clearly terrified.  I forget sometimes that he has some lingering fear/trauma from his brief time in a shelter.  But I'm so thankful that he knew to run to the office, that he recognized the girl with the lead as a friend, and that he is safe.  He seems unscarred by the event although it is going to take me a little time.  That dog owns my heart.

Dark with nuts today.

xo
Debbi