Steller's Jays at Play... Finally

Recently I've had a lack of jay photos for a reason. The presence of the large and greedy seagulls has made the jays more shy. They don't congregate in groups, jockeying for position and arguing over who deserves the peanuts like they used to. Instead they've been coming in one at a time and not as many as before. I was getting tired of that seagull and his or her relatives who were arriving to chase away the other birds.

Arvin wanted to get a large squirt gun and fill it with mild ammonia water. I kept pushing back. Finally I agreed to the gun but not the ammonia. I don't want it to frighten away the other birds and I'm not sure how safe it really is. Anyhow the big Nerf squirt gun arrived yesterday and this morning I decided to give it a try. I sneaked to the door and gave the gull a squirt with the water. Off he or she flew. The jays came down and began to eat. The crows came too. Somehow they were not concerned about me and my big plastic gun.

All morning whenever the seagull came, I squirted him, including when he was waiting on the roof. Even though they don't usually mind water, every time I squirted the gull took off and stayed away for longer than usual. As a result the jays got more bold and began to get into more disagreements about who had primary ownership of the peanuts. And finally, I got a photograph (large view here) that lived up to my old jumping jay standards. Made me happy.

The rest of the day is passing with the usual errands and the weekly (well actually almost bi-weekly) wash. Tomorrow is a big day. We are going to Dave and Nora's for a Super Bowl Sunday party. Go Hawks!