Tricks for Treats

Happy Halloween!

I thought that it would be fun to have the blue jays do some tricks this morning so I put some peanuts in the "pumpkin patch", got myself a cup of tea, hunkered down and waited. Didn't take long for the titmice and blue jays to show up and for the games to begin. On the whole, jays are much more skittish than titmice so the first few attempts to grab a peanut were aborted, amidst lots of loud squawking and alarm calls from the jays. Eventually, one was bold enough to swoop in and snatch a peanut - he was then chased through the woods by two other jays (probably youngsters from this year's brood). Anyway, I got a few shots I liked and chose this one because it gives you a sense of the speed and agility of the blue jays.

You'll notice in this shot that the jay's throat looks distended - they put nuts in their crop which is what this one had done, enabling him to get away with two peanuts.

This morning while I was crouched down with Big Daddy, there were around 100 cedar waxwings in the trees behind our house, way up high, preening and calling to each other with their high thin whistle. When I first saw them, it looked as if the tree tops had sprouted leaves, that's how many there were. Quite a sight, but way too high up, even for Big Daddy. When I came back in the house, a juvenile yellow-bellied sapsucker came to investigate the feeders on the deck, and have a quick drink of water. I think it's the same youngster I've been seeing for the last week and I wonder how much longer he will stay around. They don't winter in our area, so he is most likely in transit.

This will be the first time in 3 years that we've had "trick-or-treat" night in our area. Two years ago, we were buried under a foot of snow after a record-breaking storm hit our area. And, last year, most of the county was without power or heat in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. I think everyone in my area has breathed a collective sigh of relief that this year's Halloween was not preceded by some sort of calamitous weather incident!

I posted two other blue jays shots and a couple of shots of the sapsucker on Flikr, starting HERE.

Hope your day is filled with nothing but treats!

xxoo,
Debbi