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Post by kenlarsson on Jun 24, 2024 13:21:04 GMT -5
Hope this works, never uploaded a video before. Back from the first day of the Florida Scrub Jay Survey. Hot but survivable weather. Saw and recorded many Jays, Lots of young'un's so that's good. Besides not having adult plumage yet the juveniles are not yet banded. After the survey they go in next month with pro bird catchers to band the young ones. Each bird gets 4 color coded bands, two on each leg that allow us to keep track of the individual birds and the family group they belong to. So, our job today was to ID the birds with leg bands and get a rough estimate of the juveniles for the banding teams next month. So what does that have to do with bird fights? At one survey location a Jay was scouting us out. Apparently, it was too close to a Grey Gnatcatcher nest and the parents started dive bombing the Jay who ignored them. We also saw two Red Shouldered Hawks having an aerial battle but I couldn't get a picture or video. Well I can't get the video to upload. There's supposed to be a cool video here with the Gnatcatchers dive bombing the Jay. Bummer. We're back again tomorrow and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday if needed. We'll see. Good stuff. Figured out the video, first link is the video, second link is to all my Flikr photos. Had to shorten the video quite a bit due to data limitations.... 20240624_093401~4 by Kenneth Larsson, on Flickr" alt=" "] |
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Post by Village Idiot on Jun 24, 2024 17:47:55 GMT -5
I can't seem to find it. But the subject matter you described interests me!
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Post by John B on Jun 24, 2024 17:55:02 GMT -5
I think you can click on the picture and see the video.  |
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Post by Cornflake on Jun 24, 2024 18:07:57 GMT -5
That's cool, Ken. (The jay may disagree.)
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Post by kenlarsson on Jun 24, 2024 19:06:57 GMT -5
I can't seem to find it. But the subject matter you described interests me! I can go on about scrub jays. They are highly unusual in the bird world in that they live in family groups where the chicks from one generation stay to help the parents with the next batch of kiddies before they move on to find their own territory and start a family group. They are highly territorial; each family vigorously defends their territory. When jays fly over another family's territory, they have to fly high to avoid getting attacked. Juvenals are always getting in trouble crossing borders carelessly and getting chased back to their families. The species Florida Scrub Jay is unique to Florida, found nowhere else. Of course, our state bird is the mockingbird which 4 or 5 other states claim as their state bird.... There are three other species, the island, California, and western scrub jays. The island jay is only found on Santa Cruz Island in California. They do not avoid humans. Each family group has a scout that perches on the tallest tree or bush in the area to stand watch. When we arrive in a family's territory, we play recorded jay calls to get them to come check us out. First, we check for predators, mainly raptors. We don't want to call the jays out to get preyed upon. Many time the jays come on their own to check us out without the call. I like them a lot. |
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Post by Marshall on Jun 25, 2024 10:26:50 GMT -5
Speaking of birds in flight: I was talking to the husband of the couple we're going to Iceland with in August. He heard about something that might be happening while were there. Apparently, All the human habitation with lights and such are confusing native Puffins. Also apparently, Puffins don't nurture their chicks much. They are kinda on their own after a young age. And the young birds are confused and end up in populated areas sitting or roads and flat areas. So, one thing locals do is pick up the little birds and hand carry them to a nearby cliff and throw them over. The chicks figure it out before hitting the bottom and take off in flight.
Don't know how true it is, but it sounds interesting. I definitely want to see some Puffins.
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Post by billhammond on Jun 25, 2024 12:19:55 GMT -5
Speaking of birds in flight: I was talking to the husband of the couple we're going to Iceland with in August. He heard about something that might be happening while were there. Apparently, All the human habitation with lights and such are confusing native Puffins. Also apparently, Puffins don't nurture their chicks much. They are kinda on their own after a young age. And the young birds are confused and end up in populated areas sitting or roads and flat areas. So, one thing locals do is pick up the little birds and hand carry them to a nearby cliff and throw them over. The chicks figure it out before hitting the bottom and take off in flight. Don't know how true it is, but it sounds interesting. I definitely want to see some Puffins. You'll no doubt see lots of oystercatchers, great fliers.  |
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Post by John B on Jun 25, 2024 13:35:15 GMT -5
Speaking of birds in flight: I was talking to the husband of the couple we're going to Iceland with in August. He heard about something that might be happening while were there. Apparently, All the human habitation with lights and such are confusing native Puffins. Also apparently, Puffins don't nurture their chicks much. They are kinda on their own after a young age. And the young birds are confused and end up in populated areas sitting or roads and flat areas. So, one thing locals do is pick up the little birds and hand carry them to a nearby cliff and throw them over. The chicks figure it out before hitting the bottom and take off in flight. Don't know how true it is, but it sounds interesting. I definitely want to see some Puffins. I couldn't reach these. My days as a Puffin Wrangler were pretty short-lived.  |
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Post by Marshall on Jun 25, 2024 14:46:38 GMT -5
Speaking of birds in flight: I was talking to the husband of the couple we're going to Iceland with in August. He heard about something that might be happening while were there. Apparently, All the human habitation with lights and such are confusing native Puffins. Also apparently, Puffins don't nurture their chicks much. They are kinda on their own after a young age. And the young birds are confused and end up in populated areas sitting or roads and flat areas. So, one thing locals do is pick up the little birds and hand carry them to a nearby cliff and throw them over. The chicks figure it out before hitting the bottom and take off in flight. Don't know how true it is, but it sounds interesting. I definitely want to see some Puffins. You'll no doubt see lots of oystercatchers, great fliers. Are the related to penguins ? |
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