Hi everyone, Just back from a nice walk on Mt Pleasant Road with a fun bird sighting. At the farmhouse "dip" east of the observatory, over the stand of large spruces I noticed a large flock of Blue Jays approaching from the north. I counted 14 as they took off over the open fields flying high and I was struck how silent they were . Minutes later another large flock took flight, but they backtracked (back-winged?) and started calling. A Merlin was in the vicinity and for several minutes the jays mobbed it as it alternately swooped around chasing them or perched atop one of the spruces. The Merlin eventually took off straight south and disappeared over the horizon. Shortly after that the flock of 30+ jays took off, again completely silently, and flew over the woods to the south.
Such fun to experience birds' lives this way! Marie Marie Read Wildlife Photography 452 Ringwood Road Freeville NY 13068 USA Phone 607-539-6608 e-mail m...@cornell.edu Website: http://www.marieread.com Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Marie-Read-Wildlife-Photography-104356136271727/ -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
