Other wildlife enjoying the bears’ leftovers are chickadees and white-breasted nuthatches, along with the usual red squirrels and all,
but the big excitement for me today was watching blue jays easily evade a persistent sharp-shinned hawk. Once spotted, the hawk had no chance. Blue jays come in bunches at this time of year, which means many eyes trained for millennia to look for hawks. If the hawk is on the tail of a blue jay in flight, the blue jay squawks; but usually they evade the hawk with almost casual ease, watching the hawk from a higher branch where they are safe—or from dense foliage that foils the hawk. I’ve never seen a hawk catch a blue jay, although I’m sure they do. This juvenile sharp-shin watched for opportunities and tried to take advantage of many. The shot of it taking off shows the totally white under tail coverts, the narrow white terminal band on its tail, and the squared off corners of its tail—all of which separate the sharp-shin from its larger cousin the Cooper’s hawk.
Another nice sight was the last of the fall color shining in the sun as seen from the third floor deck here. With many trees without leaves now, two tall tamaracks, some quaking aspen saplings, and a tall birch tree still had leaves in the picture, set against tall pines and barren aspen and birch trees.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center