Re: Yet Another Gray Jay Story

One winter, when I was logging in the coastal rain forest of Western Washington, we had an unusually heavy snowfall of about 30". (For those of you enjoying the winter in the North East, some winters we had none at all.) The snow not only made for difficult logging but was hard on the wildlife as well, and the Jays lost no time moving in to help us dispose of our lunch. The Gray Jays were first of course, and they quickly became bold enough to come right into the yarding and loading machines. The Stellers Jays were right behind, but they would keep out of reach. The Stellers would get on a machine, even while it was running, but would not come inside. We never had Crows or Magpies, and the Ravens would have nothing to do with us.

Later, when the snow was gone, the Stellers Jays departed but the Grays stayed around until we logged out and left the area.