Lots of nest checks.

So we've got about 30 nests that we are monitoring now. Some are starting to have eggs. Which means that when we head out there we make a small dot with a sharpie on the broad end of the egg indicating laying order. The eggs are speckled brown, so a few small dots blends in enough that the birds usually don't notice. Then we pull out our scales and weigh the most recent egg. All the while the parents are screaming at you from approximately 1 meter away. Scrub Jays are loud. I usually take out all the supplies I'm going to need before I get to the nest and disturb the breeders. I feel it's best to get in there, and get out, while most importantly, being careful not to do any harm to the eggs.

The latest in the GCB-I saga is that we still do not know who he is breeding with for sure. We think it may be the more experienced female, CL-B, who moved into his territory from hers after her old mate died last year. H-FCP, the other younger female, is almost as ridiculous as GCB-I. She's not hand tame, but she's definitely not afraid. She'll sit in a scrub oak 2 feet from me and just stare. Waiting for a handout. The tameness of the birds works against you when trying to nest search. Instead of acting like a normal Scrub Jay should, they sit and stare. Not helpful when you're trying to watch their behavior for clues as to what's going on where. They're more interested in the possible peanut you're going to give them than plucking fibers or breaking sticks to build a nest with. Yesterday while trying to nest search and SSHC without giving him anything GCB-I decided to sit on my head. Then when I didn't feed him after 10 minutes, and was clearly more interested in what CL-B was going to do, (because she still acts like a normal Scrub Jay), GCB-I got upset, started making his grunting noises, and then proceeded to peck me twice on the head.


Scrub Jays are not the only hand tamed birds on the station. There is a red bellied woodpecker, who we affectionately refer to as Tony, who is also hand tame. Of course, I didn't know about this the day he decided to introduce himself to me. It's one thing to have a Scrub Jay flying straight at your head to land... It's another entirely when a woodpecker is headed for you. They use those bills to inflict some serious hurt on some trees. Eventually I was informed that you give him a peanut, and he goes away. I had to pay the Tony toll at the ATV gate across State Road 8 just an hour ago.


I had a day off this Wednesday and drove out to Sarasota to visit with Memere and Pepere. We played some cribbage, and went to Siesta Key for the day. It was a very relaxing break. The Great Blue Herons who were nesting in the tree in their backyard are still there. The 2 fledglings are huge now. They barely fit in the nest together. The first got very upset when the second decided it was sick of sitting down and almost toppled the first out of the nest. They also fought when mom came back with a crop full of food.


I've got the beginnings of a research question formulated that I think may work out... Time for a brainstorming session.