Sometimes, it feels like my neighbours get all the best things on their side of the garden boundary. Sparrowhawks sitting on the fence, preening for hours. A young brown hare taking refuge from pouring rain, under their plastic garden furniture. Green woodpeckers drilling into their turf for ants. Song thrushes nesting in their shrubbery. And now, something I've wanted to watch for a long time...Looking out of the upstairs window, there was a pink, white, black and blue blur before me. A jay landed on my neighbours' fencepost and flicked its tail. It had an acorn in its beak, which it placed carefully on top of the post, making sure it wouldn't roll off. Then it jumped down onto the lawn. Looking at its bulging throat, the next move was obvious.The jay selected a slightly longer patch of grass under an apple tree, its chosen spot for the acorns it was holding in its throat. Using its strong beak, it dug a little hole, brought up an acorn and placed it in the hiding place before pushing the grass back over it.
It repeated this three more times, before performing what I consider to be the most impressive feat: going back to the fencepost to pick up the last acorn! I am absolutely certain I would have forgotten that one...The jay's final task was to inspect some more lawn. Hopping across the garden, it stopped and cocked its head to one side. Stop. Look. Listen. Hop. What was it doing? I know it's daft to give birds human thoughts, but the jay must have been thinking something. Could it have been...
At the same time, I had to remember that, although crows are very intelligent creatures, the bird's brain was limited by the size of its head. The jay's grey matter couldn't have been much bigger than the acorn it was carrying in its beak. But when it flew off, my brain was full of questions I couldn't answer.
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I am lucky enough to have a couple of jays as regular visitors. I think this is because I leave handfuls of peanuts in shells on the grass for the squirrels (which may be why they leave the birdfeeders alone). I have seen a jay being chased away by a squirrel, only to watch carefully from a tree whilst the squirrel buries his peanut, and goes away, at which point the jay digs it up again and flies off with it.
I've quite often seen jays flying around, but this was the first time I'd seen one set foot near my garden. Maybe I can tempt it onto my premises with some peanuts... They are lovely birds, but whenever I see one, I can't help but wonder why they have such a beautiful blue patch on their wings. What is its purpose? It just looks nice to other jays, I suppose.