I know I’ve posted other images of gray jays before, but this one was pretty insistent that I take its picture.
Gray Jay
Gray Jays
We took a break before hiking in the Hurricane Ridge area of the Olympic National Park. We immediately we visited by a flock of gray jays. I am always amazed how they seem to know where someone is eating. We guard our food carefully, since they are so little afraid of humans that they will swoop down and grab food off the picnic table right in front of you.
I like the different expressions they exhibit. And their lack of fear of humans (while generally a bad thing) is helpful for being able to get images like these with your iPhone. I shot these with my iPhone 16 Pro Max. I had a camera with me, but left it in the knapsack for these.
Bike Trip Birds
We went out for a bike ride on the Discovery Trail on the section just east of Sequim, Washington. Just as we were about to turn into the parking lot, we saw this flock of 16 quail. We stopped, I got out my phone and took a picture … then slowly drove and they scattered doing their quail dance/run.
About half way through we saw this vulture on a dead tree along the trail. Sorta wondered if it was a commentary on the way some of the bikers looked … struggling along looking like they would fall over at any time. Don’t usually see much wildlife when I’m out biking … too much attention focused on the roadway, I guess.
Gray Jay
This jay was keeping an eye on me … checking to see if I was going to bring out any food. I see the gray jays often in the Olympic National Park … where there are lots of them year-round. Folks break the “do not feed the wildlife” rule frequently … often holding their snacks out in their hands … which will bring the jays down to eat out of your hand. This, of course, has just reinforced their begging and stealing behaviors. When I’ve been out backpacking, I’ve had to be very careful while fixing/eating dinner … I don’t backpack food in for the birds!
Hawk Visit
As I was reading the morning news the other day, I was startled by a small bird hitting the window. Always sad when that happens, but when I looked up I saw a larger bird land on the top of our fence. The hawk that was chasing the small bird was nervous about coming closer to the house. But it was still interested in the small bird … it hung around for a bit, but eventually flew off. But not before I had time to get my camera out and snap a few shots. I spent a bunch of time trying to determine if it was a Cooper’s Hawk or a Sharp-Shinned Hawk. My best guess (but still a guess) is Sharp-Shinned.
