Suspicious Steller's Jay behaviour
I stopped at the Lake Azouzetta viewpoint about 3 km east of the summit of Pine Pass today. There was a Steller's Jay gathering insects there which you can see in its bill in this photo. The bird was flying downslope along the steep cliff down to the lake so I wasn't able to follow it but it kept this up for the whole 20 minutes I was there. It very much looked like typical behaviour when an adult is feeding young. If so, it would be a very late nesting attempt for this species. Having said that, there have been many reports of late nesting this year so anything is possible. Oct 01, 2010.
*** Postscript - Guy Monty reminded me of the jay habit of food caching in the autumn in preparation for winter. This is a much likelier scenario than nesting given the time of year.
Suspicious Steller's Jay behaviour
I stopped at the Lake Azouzetta viewpoint about 3 km east of the summit of Pine Pass today. There was a Steller's Jay gathering insects there which you can see in its bill in this photo. The bird was flying downslope along the steep cliff down to the lake so I wasn't able to follow it but it kept this up for the whole 20 minutes I was there. It very much looked like typical behaviour when an adult is feeding young. If so, it would be a very late nesting attempt for this species. Having said that, there have been many reports of late nesting this year so anything is possible. Oct 01, 2010.
*** Postscript - Guy Monty reminded me of the jay habit of food caching in the autumn in preparation for winter. This is a much likelier scenario than nesting given the time of year.