The Northern Flicker checking out the backyard before coming down from the tree …
… where he encounters a Stellar’s Jay at the suet feeder.
They thoroughly check each other out …
… when the jay starts to clown around and then hops onto the ground.
The shy flicker asserts himself and gets the snack he’s come for …
… when suddenly …
… to be continued …
🙂
in cahoots with muddy boots 
Oooh, lovely pictures. Thanks for sharing your bird encounter.
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Thanks so much! I’m glad you enjoyed these photos! 🙂
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Very impressive pics! That Jay sure looks different than the kind around our area! They are definitely crow-relatives! 🙂
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Thanks Tom! If I’m not mistaken you have the blue jays where you are. We don’t get those at all here, only this one and the scrub jay. All jays and of course crows are very smart. They’re fun to watch do their thing! 🙂
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There are far fewer Blue Jays and Crows in our area these days. They are very susceptible to the West Nile Virus which, unfortunately, has taken its toll on them. But i do see some once in a while, which is good.
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I just read an article in the WaPo the other day that North America has lost 3 billion birds during the last 50 years!! I’ve definitely noticed changes over the last decade here.
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Beautiful meet and greet Sabine. They are both striking-looking birds – we don’t have this type of Jay. I like them checking each other out … I’ll be sure to tune in for the sequel. 🙂
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Hey Linda, we have two types of jays, this one and the Scrub jay. I love them both! Your eastern blue jay is a gorgeous bird as well. I saw the Florida variant in, well, Florida. This really was a interesting moment! 🙂
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This one doesn’t resemble a Jay – I would not have known it was from the Jay family. They are all beautiful and large birds. You are lucky to have two types. Our Blue Jays love peanuts and sunflower seeds.
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Ours love peanuts and suet! I don’t put out peanuts anymore because we got too many squirrels. They wouldn’t stop burying the peanuts until the feeder was empty. Then they got angry and destroyed the feeder. I find peanuts in the yard sometimes, so another neighbor must put them out! Did you know that they are related to crows?
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I loved feeding the “porch pals” and that included a Blue Jay which took his peanut to go every day – he made a magnificent swoop onto the porch and a beeline back to the tree. They are majestic birds and very large so I didn’t know they were related to crows, and perhaps that is why they are not only large but smart? I enjoy catering to and spoiling my squirrel pals at the Park, but in the neighborhood, in my yard, they were problematic and it was my experience, just like yours, that a squirrel will rip apart any feeder to suit its purpose and if it can’t it will destroy something else. I’m going to decide soon if I should get some suet to leave at the Park or perhaps some of those seeded bells (sunflower or mixed seed) like I did last year. They have hooks to hang on the trees. I’d love to cater to the birds too but I know the squirrels will get to the food source first. From what I hear we will have a rainy, chilly November and snow by Thanksgiving and a snowy Winter according to the “Almanac” which I find is more accurate than the local forecasters. Today was supposed to be a good weather day – now only til 11:00 a.m. – I am going to hurry out and salvage a walk and defer errands to another day.
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I hope you got your steps in before the weather turned, Linda! It’s miserable here, wet and windy and cold! The kind of day to do “inside” stuff and watch the jays from the window. 🙂
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I got a short walk in Sabine, but just in the neighborhood. I was going to do errands which I didn’t do due to the rain/storms.
It was an ugly weather weekend and more to come this week. I did get some inside things done too. They are saying bad weather next weekend too … they can’t always predict the same day, so I have no faith in predictions one week out. 🙂
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Nice! Let’s cross our fingers that winter this year won’t be too wild!
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You are such a tease! ;))) I love this and can’t even imagine such a great photo opportunity. You wonder what they are thinking.
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You won’t have to wait long, Marlene! They just both showed up at the same time and I happened to be there, too. I always wonder what they are thinking! 🙋
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Can’t wait to hear how the story unfolds!
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Won’t be long now! 😉
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