Bad Finnish Birdwatcher

Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - Chatting with a Jay

My after-lunch walk was quite productive today. There were the usual suspects at the lake - which is still 95% frozen - Mute Swans,  Whooper Swans and Goldeneyes, and also a few Mallards plus some Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls.

The usual suspects this time of year include also Starlings. Their imitations that is. It didn't take too many seconds to figure out that the curlew I heard "behind" a singing Starling was an imitation. But when I heard a song of a Redwing, I thought I might get a year-tick. But no, a Starling again.

The real treat though was on the meadow. At first I didn't pay much attention to the tits shouting behind me, but when I finally turned my head I saw an owl flying over the meadow. At first I assumed it to be a Short-eared Owl. After all, it was on a meadow, makes sense, right? (It did to me at the time.) Eventually I found it again at the forests edge, sitting near the ground, it was a Long-eared Owl. Great! It looked very pissed off indeed. Nothing looks as pissed off as an owl... They may be the symbols of wisdom, but hey, think about a Pygmy Owl for example. I've called Pygmy Owl "the baddest motherfucker of finnish forests" and I'm sticking to it!

Anyhow, I didn't bother the owl anymore as something peculiar happened nearby. There was a Eurasian Jay in a row of poplars a few dozen meters away. Tree by tree it hopped closer, curiously watching me with its crown-feathers raised. And all the time it chattered! Exclamation mark. I have never heard a Jay chatter silently like this guy did, it was fairly similar to the "song" of a Magpie, but even quieter I think. You couldn't hear this sound any longer than maybe 30 meters. Finally it was practically over me just a few meters away, still chattering away, and me - I was staring at it amazed, that sapphire (the blue kind) glowing on its wing in the sunshine. After a while it got bored of me and flew away. Lunch-break was over.
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Me - Timo Janhonen

Fabulous birding adventures on the south coast of Finland.

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