Oak Birds

Saturday’s NAMC took us up into the low-elevation oaks of Black Mountain–too low, and probably too isolated, for most of the classic Sky Island quercophiles, but still host to birds like Western (Woodhouse’s) Scrub-Jay.

We often think of this taxon as the “dull” scrub-jay, and I suppose they do pale, literally, in comparison with the birds of the Pacific coast; but those blue wings and tail, and even their creaky calls, liven up the desert oaks on a hot morning.

And then of course there’s ornithology’s gift to the limerick writers, the Bushtit.

Bushtits are generally impossible to count as they fuss chaotically through the foliage, but the species has the obliging habit of leaving the foliage single file when it comes time to fly to the next tree. And so we stood and watched until 14 of the little sprites had made the perilous 10-foot crossing to their new hunting grounds.