Feather Maintenance

A few geese and the heron on the water today.  Gorgeous weather -- cobalt blue sky with my favorite big puffy, marshmallow-white clouds.  

A bit of drama in the courtyard outside my front door this morning.  The Stellar's jays were absolutely going wild, much noisier than usual.  When I went to check I saw that the neighbor's cat was the target of their aggression.  I tried to help them out by shooing the cat away but it didn't work.  They kept it up for the longest time.  I couldn't figure out what the problem was other than maybe the cat was too close to their nest but I didn't know where that might be.  When I went to leave later, the cat was gone and the jays were quiet but I saw a young jay down on the walkway.  The parents were darting back and forth and one of them brought the young one some food.  The young one didn't look like it was in trouble but it was letting everyone know it was hungry.  Part of me wanted to try and intervene to get it to a safer spot but my better judgment won.  The parents escorted the kid into the bushes where I hope it was safe.  It was so cute with some of the beautiful blue feathers and a kid-sized version of the famous Stellar's jay hairdo.