This was the day
I consciously became a birdwatcher. It was nearly 25 years ago and
was the first time I encountered a Grey Jay. I had recently moved
to a new home in the country and had decided to take a walk in the
forest to see what I could see. I had no idea how long I would be,
so I took some of my freshly baked Irish soda bread, and a jug of
water.
I found a trail to follow that led deep into the
seemingly uninhabited
forest and began to wonder who had made this trail. Was it the
deer? The coyotes? Or perhaps the mother bear that I had seen
with her cubs last week? There was no sign of any wildlife, just
the sound of the forest birds happily chirping
somewhere in the sunshine
above. The trail didn't seem to be going anywhere in particular,
so I decided to head back. But first I wanted to take a drink and
nibble on the bread. I found a large, rotting cedar log to
sit on and dug the snack out of my day pack..jpg)
A couple of minutes later I heard what sounded like a purring
sound. You just never know what you
might encounter in the
wilderness, and in that short moment I had
imagined all sorts of things! I cautiously looked to my right, without moving a
muscle. In my peripheral vision I saw movement about an arm's
length from my head. I slowly turned my head and looked right into
the eyes of a grey jay! It was not the least bit frightened and
hopped across the branches toward me. I was the one that was
nervous! One is always cautious about wildlife that behaves this
way. It seemed to be interested in the bread I was holding, so I
broke off a little piece and offered it to the bird. To my
surprise it took the piece, gobbled it down and came back for
more!
I began to notice more of the jays gathering. I offered more bread
which was readily accepted by these teddy bear-faced birds. I
spent the afternoon feeding the jays and enjoying the soft purring
or cooing sounds that they made. They must have followed me home,
as from that day on the birds were always in the yard when I was
out, waiting for me to offer them some baked goods.
Posted by Jadzia
