Western Scrub Jays, Lewis and Acorn Woodpecker and acorn crops

Updated: Acorn Crop Survey Contacts

Recent Tweet about Western Scrub Jay and Acorn crop proves interesting along with Tweet from October 5th, 2010 Vol. 74 Issue 5 Tweet and this one and this one.

"I would strongly encourage anyone seeing Western Scrub-Jays IN AREAS WHERE THEY ARE NOT USUALLY FOUND to report them.."

and

"...although it would explain the invasion of Western Scrub-Jays into areas north of King County, I still believe it has little or nothing to do with this year's Lewis's Woodpecker reports in western WA, as that species breeds almost entirely in areas which don't have any native oaks."

and

"It is much less common (appearance of Western Scrub Jay) in Thurston and Pierce Counties."

Prairie Oak List has indicated that this year was the worst since 1999 for acorn crops in Canada, Washington and Oregon.

It is quite interesting that there *is* OR *is NOT* a relationship between acorn crops and bird residency/migration/breeding habits. An Ecologist with the USDA Forest Service who has been monitoring Acorn crops in Canada, Washington and Oregon has indicated on the Prairie Oak list that:

"I have been conducting an annual acorn survey for Oregon white oak from British Columbia to southern Oregon since 1999. This is the worst production year in the history of the survey almost everywhere."

I wonder further about the relationship between birds and acorns and find it all quite interesting.

(note to self upon a recollection: I will have to search further for a study conducted recently about the distribution of acorns by Jays possibly written by someone in Canada.)

Canal Road Oaks

I began searching for acorns a bit late this year. Canal Rd. last year around August produced a few acorns. This year, with the addition of two homes near the oak stand, I found that the landscaper or housing developer tossed additional dead sod into the understory of the oak stand. Garbage or compost? I suppose the difference would be the fact that compost usually is cured and spread evenly. This was a clump of unused dead sod carelessly tossed into the oak stand understory at the end of the new home on the 8600 block of Canal Rd. Here is the Facebook page. I hope it gets cleaned up.

Anyway, I didn't find ANY acorns this late in the season and I really wonder about this years acorn crop production.

Also this link from the Prairie Oak list:
http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/domestic/western_bluebird.html

Fort Lewis has been assisting in the repopulation and relocation, if you will, of Western Blue Birds on San Juan Island. The project has entered into a contest http://www.zooboise.org/zbcfprojects.aspx

More on Blue Bird Projects in the South Puget Sound

Acorn crops and increased Lewis/Acorn woodpecker sightings

TWEET mailing list
A few people are discussing the possible reasons for a spike or dispersal patterns in Lewis/Acorn woodpecker sightings in Western Washington. One theory includes the shortage of acorns this fall. I admit that there were fewer wild rose blooms and rose hips this year than last year. I have not assessed local acorn production in comparison to years previous but hope to in the coming weeks.

Lewis/Acorn woodpecker numbers

Hummingbirds in Fall

A hummingbird flew through my yard today and stopped in to feed NEAR the hummingbird feeder. He actually hovered over the red plastic covered dog run wire thinking that this was food. Earlier this summer I watched a hummingbird hover at a large spider web and dart into the center of the web to peck at the spider. This hummer appeared to have a yellowish breast and sat inside a liliac bush, then darted off into the fenceline brush. Next year I hope to have red hot poker planted near the fenceline to attract more hummingbirds.

European starlings

A flock of European starlings flew into an evergreen near the railroad. At least the number of starlings in the smallish evergreen did not disturb the tree enough to bend its branches. I have noticed more European starling flocks in the past few weeks.