February 22 continued
As we headed toward M-41, our birding trip saved by the sighting of the Black-backed Woodpecker, my phone rang. It was Mark.
"Did you get my voicemail?" he asked.
"No, I think we just got cell service."
"Did you get the Canada Jays yet?" I slammed on the brakes again.
"No, we'd kind of given up on them. Did you see them?!"
They had indeed. He told us to head back and look for a cabin on the river side of the road that had a Remax sign and "For Rent" sign out front. He said that about 200 feet before the cabin there was a deer carcass hanging on a tree about 8 feet off the road (put there for the purpose of feeding the birds, if you're wondering). We turned around and headed back down the road.
It wasn't too long before we found the cabin, so I stopped and backed up and saw the carcass, now just a backbone and ribs, hanging from a tree. There were several woodpeckers picking bits of meat off the bones.
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| Hairy Woodpecker getting some much needed late winter protein. |
We waited a few minutes to see if the jays would appear, then I decided to play their calls on my phone. Within seconds a Canada Jay appeared in front of the truck and perched in a small tree, as if it had simply materialized out of the snow. Lori smashed up some almonds she'd brought and I stepped out of the truck, stood in the road, and held out my hand. Mark had said he'd offered peanut butter on a bit of bread, so I thought I'd try it. To my utter astonishment the bird flew right at me. Maybe I flinched but at the last moment it veered and landed right next to the passenger side window. Lori extended her hand and the jay came down and plucked a bit of almond from her palm.
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| Young Canada Jay taking a nut from Lori (that's the truck's mirror in the foreground). |
The bird flew off to a branch to pick apart its treat but promptly dropped the nut into the snow. It flew down to retrieve it but seemed unable. When it returned to the tree we realized it had a bum leg, making it nearly impossible to perch and hold the nut at the same time. You can see its useless foot sticking back under its tail.
We got the impression that this was a young bird, especially after two others showed up. It could just be that this bird is less robust because of its injury. The other two birds would not come to our outstretched hands so we threw the nut bits on the ground for them to gather up.
I'd seen this species before but never this close or for this long. Canada Jays have a history of being very bold and tolerant of people, and can be pests at campsites as they will hop right across the table and steal your Cheetos. A small price to pay to have something so precious so close.
One of the other birds grabbed a nut and picked it apart. You can see why the injured bird is really gonna have a tough go of it, only having one functioning leg.
Cute little devils, they are.
I took lots of photos, taking advantage of having them so near at hand, and not knowing when I might see them again. Like the other two species from the last post, these boreal birds are becoming harder and harder to find in the U.P., likely due to a warming climate.
After about 20 minutes we turned the truck around and started the two hour drive back to the motel and a late supper. We were thrilled that we'd pulled off--with a bit of help--the "boreal trifecta" of Black-backed Woodpecker, Canada Jay, and Boreal Chickadee. We are grateful to all the help we received from Facebook groups (Upper Peninsula Birding) and especially from Mark and Joanie. Without their help we would have missed the gregarious Canada Jay.
Peshekee Grade, McCormick Wilderness, February 22
#87) Canada Jay
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