Bird Watching: Daily pics #258, 1 by Elphaba

Elphaba wrote:
From what my Dad tells me, Jays are different in different parts of the country. Where he lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the Blue Jays are HUGE and really, really mean. When he visits me, he can't get over how small and "nice" my jays are.

Plantladylin, if you want to see a hawk perched, listen for the Jays. When a hawk perches in my area, the Jays call to each other. They come together from all the yards nearby. They gather in the tree with the hawk, screech wildly and dive bomb it repeatedly until it leaves. If I find the Jays which is easy b/c they are making so much noise, and then find the spot where they are diving, I can usually spot the hawk. At least that's true of the big hawks, even the blue jays seem to be too afraid to show themselves around a Cooper's Hawk.

Here is one more shot of the Cooper's Hawk. The tree is a Sycamore, but it's confusing b/c the tree is full of the dreaded potato vine. One day I was back there and I had to duck and cover when the wind blew and it started raining potatoes.