Mya Bell's Backyard Birding Diary
8 May 02

Location:

My back yard and around the block in the Pacific Northwest

Critter highlights:

• Crow
• Spotted Towhee
• Steller's Jay
• Yellow-Green Bird
• Bewick's (?) Wren
• Chestnut Back Chickadee
• Black-Capped Chickadee
• Bug

Mya Bell's Diary:

Fair Weather. Two days ago we had a freak snowfall. At first I thought it was hail, but when I went out on the balcony I discovered it was definitely snow. It must have continued for about half hour and was even sticking a little. Considering the daffodils and tulips are almost finished blooming and we rarely see snow this close to the coast (even in December), this was quite extraordinary.

In contrast, this morning was sunny--the kind of weather you expect in May. I wasn't planning to take a walk, in spite of the promising weather, so I spent a few minutes on the balcony, listening to the call of the wren as it made its way around the neighborhood alternately singing from the tops of trees and foraging near the ground, all the time squeaking and warbling its progress.

I was about to return to my work when the sound of complaining crows caught my attention. It looked like three crows were trying to chase off a raven. They disappeared behind the roof so I put on my shoes and went out into the front yard to see what was happening.

Soon more crows joined the original three and they disappeared behind the treetops. I almost went back inside, except that they unexpectedly reappeared, gathering in a large deciduous tree across the street, jumping around and cawing as though something was upsetting them. I could hear one or two Steller's jays in the same tree, also complaining. I couldn't see the source of the commotion and I couldn't make out any pattern in the way the crows were hopping around the tree. Then, as suddenly as it all began, the crows stopped cawing and flew away. I was going to go back inside, but I was momentarily attracted to the sound of a finch singing nearby and crossed the street to see if I could spot it. Before I knew it, I was off on a walk around the block.

At first I couldn't hear or see many birds, as I walked along the sidewalk on the busy street that is a main artery through the area, but when I began walking up the slope, farther from traffic, I began to hear a few unfamiliar bird calls. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the birds, they were hiding in back yards, but it was a pleasure to hear them and see all the spring flowers along the way.

After about half a block, the chattering sound of a sparrow (or perhaps a finch) in a tall shrubby tree (a Juniper?) caught my attention. I thought perhaps it was the amorous attentions of a male sparrow somewhere near a nesting female. I stayed for a while, hoping to catch a glimpse of the bird when suddenly the chattering stopped and a Steller's jay darted from the depths of the bushy tree with a small bird that looked like a sparrow in hot pursuit. Was the jay trying to raid its nest? Do Steller's jays do that?

I walked on. A couple of houses further up, I came upon a Steller's jay quietly foraging in the grass and rocks.

As I reached the end of the block, I turned west and hadn't gone more than a few feet when I noticed a bird carcass in the grass. At first I thought it was the wing of a small crow or large starling, but when I looked closer, I realized it was an entire bird. It had dried and shriveled so that it was almost flat and it was pretty difficult to tell what it had been, perhaps a young starling? I wasn't sure so I continued on my way.

Towhee Treat. As I rounded the next corner, I heard the sounds of many birds and saw another jay poking around in the grass. The people who live here have an empty lot on each side, one devoted to berries and bees, the other filled with beautiful tall trees. A large proportion of the birds that live in our neighborhood are present because of those two shrubby, well-treed lots. I could hear wrens, sparrows, finches, jays, and robins. A pigeon (band-tailed?) flew out of the trees and circled around and crows flew overhead. Then I had a special treat. A bird was warbling at the top of one of the trees, a repeating tune, clear and strong. It took me about a minute to locate the bird. It was so close to the trunk, it was difficult to see, but it switched from one tree to another, which gave me a chance to track it. To my delight, it was a spotted towhee. I've never seen them up high before. They forage on the ground and often hide under bushes rather than flying away when feeling threatened. One of our neighbors saw me aiming a camera at the top of the tree and came out, very curious about what kind of critter I was watching. I pointed out the towhee and realized I was cold and it was hard to talk. I had been so enthralled with the bird I had hardly noticed that I was shivering.

Feathered Feats. Happy to have seen the towhee and to have heard its song so clearly, even above the ever-present traffic noises, I walked the remaining half block to my home. I noticed the wren warbling in the fir in our back yard for a few moments, got a small fuzzy picture of it, and then it was gone. Within minutes I was sitting at the computer ready to work and I wasn't even going to look out the window when I heard the squawk of a starling followed by the trill of our two resident chestnut back chickadees. At the last moment, I decided to peek out the window. There I saw the two chestnut backs, flying around the inner branches of the oak tree.

I'm so glad I took the time to look. I only wish I still had the camera in my hand as I suspect what I saw next has rarely been captured on film (at least with chickadees). The chestnut backs are a breeding pair and the female was sitting on the edge of a branch about six feet from the ground, vibrating her wings and beckoning the male. Just as he approached her, the female chickadee left the branch, yet still managed to maintain some of her breeding posture, with tail tipped up and extended, as she flapped her wings. The male mated with her as they were airborne, though they were not so much flying forward as they were hovering, and the hover kept getting lower and lower until they were only about a foot off the ground and almost right below the spot where the female had been sitting on the branch. Wow! I thought the jays were pretty good acrobats, but this was an amazing aerodynamic feat. The unique event lasted only about two seconds so I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time to see it happen.

Afternoon Delights. I was so fortunate this morning, to see so many interesting birds and bird behaviors; I never expected there to be more in the afternoon. By mid-afternoon I needed a break. I was sore from sitting, my legs needed a stretch, and my eyes were tired from reading small print on the computer screen.
I didn't have time for another walk, so I grabbed a snack and went out on the balcony to enjoy a few moments of sunshine. This morning it was sunny and cold, but it was now pleasantly warm. It was not long before I heard the calls of chickadees. We have chestnut back and black-capped chickadees and occasionally, in late summer, we'll see a few mountain chickadees. I can sometimes tell their calls apart, but sometimes when they are cheeping, it's hard to tell one from another without looking. This time it turned out to be the nesting black-capped chickadees, feeding together. They were foraging for longer than usual, filling up their beaks before flying away. The babies must have hatched--the chickadees appeared to be gathering rather than eating the food. I have no idea where they've hidden their nest; they flit about so fast, it's almost impossible to tell, and almost all the trees have leafed out, giving them many hiding places.

After the chickadees left to feed their brood, I watched a house sparrow in the oak tree and starlings on the neighbor's lawn. For a few brief moments, a house sparrow joined the starlings to forage in the grass, a sight I haven't seen before. I've noticed them on pavement in the downtown areas and in trees in our neighborhood, but they generally stay away from the lawn (and the local cats). The sparrow flew away and I looked up into the maple tree and was startled to see the tree move. Wait a minute, that wasn't the tree moving; that was a small, utterly plain, yellow-green bird, the same color as the budding maple leaves, hopping upwards. It was almost impossible to see and I couldn't discern any distinguishing characteristics other than the barest hint of an eyestripe (very faint). No eyering, no wingbars. I never saw the breast from the front, so I don't know if there were streaks. This little bird was as plain as a bushtit, except that it was a lemon-lime color. It disappeared after about 15 seconds and I wasn't able to spot it again.

Mmmmmm, Protein. Well, time to get back to work. I gathered my legs under me and went back in the house, reluctantly leaving the enticing sunshine. Then a soft whump sound caused me to look over my shoulder. It was a Steller's jay on the deck rail. They often hop along the rail before jumping up on the roof to look for food in the gutter. I was planning to return to the computer room, but then noticed, out of the corner of my eye, that the jay was staying in one place and bobbing its head up and down--how odd. I walked slowly back to the balcony door, to see what was happening, while trying not to startle the jay.

I was quite surprised. I've been admiring Steller's jays for years, enjoying their brilliant plumage, their broad vocabulary and interesting approach to life. I have read that they eat insects but, except for one snapping at a fly a few days ago, I've never seen one catch or eat an insect. I was beginning to wonder if the local jays were exclusively seed eaters, but apparently not! This jay had caught a big black beetle and was dissecting it as carefully as a doctor performing delicate surgery. Jays often use their feet as hands, holding or positioning seeds, nuts, and other things, to make them easier to handle. But this jay was so expert with its beak, it didn't need to steady the bug with its foot, even though the balcony rail is less than three inches wide. I only saw it touch the beetle for one very brief moment with a claw and, otherwise, it pulled it apart piece by tiny piece, and ate the inner meat in about three or four separate bites entirely with its beak. It mostly left the undesired parts of the bug on the rail as it was eating, but at one point, it took a piece into its beak and appeared to crunch down on it and then dropped the piece back on the deck and ate a little bit more, tossing the shell and legs over the side of the rail. Fortunately, I had the camera handy and can share with you a few photos of this very interesting meal.

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Mya Bell is a novelist and screen author. Birding and sharing excerpts from her journals are Mya's hobbies.
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