If you haven’t yet read Part 1 from yesterday, please click here and enjoy. I had no idea there would even be a Part 2 until today. Whereas yesterday’s vignette revolved around a tiny spider and a gnat, today’s longer story includes lots of birds and a football theme!
Currently the temperature is 87 F inside my house and I can’t see more than about 1/4 mile at the very most due to the smokey air from regional wildfires. The fans are blowing around the hot air inside and the air purifier is whirring along, doing its best. I can even taste the air –– it leaves a chalky sensation in my mouth and throat, and my eyes are mildly stinging.
Despite the high heat (for Seattle) and unhealthy air quality, I was upstairs in my home office most of today getting my new iMac computer set up with the help of my husband –– yes, of Chez Glenn fame!
As I was arranging my now very tidy desk (we’ll see how long it stays that way) I became acutely aware of some bird sounds and rose from my chair to stare outside.
At first it was quite confusing. I saw four Steller’s Jays (similar to blue jays) swooping around over our back yard and hopping from roof to roof amongst our neighboring houses. It seemed dramatic –– all that swooping –– and they were a tad aggressive too. Perhaps it’s the black crest on their heads that makes them look so imposing.
After surveying the scene I quickly realized that there was a Sharp-Shinned Hawk –– fondly called a “Sharpie” by many bird lovers –– in the swooping mix of dark blue-black birds and it was periodically dive-bombing seemingly invisible prey, despite being chased.
All the usual little birds that populate my back yard were suddenly nowhere to be found.
My home office is three stories high, so I get great territorial views of neighborhood rooftops and airspace, as well as trees –– not to mention glimpses of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, most days.
What became abundantly clear is that what I was watching was not random and hectic as I had first thought. There was actual choreography and planning at work. In fact, it was sort of like watching a football game. And, yes, the irony is not lost on me as my home NFL team is the Seattle Seahawks!
I started to predict the plays…
The hawk (Quarterback) would land on the peak of the neighbor’s rooftop (The Snap). Within 10 seconds, the alpha jay (Defensive Linebacker) would land on the same rooftop, but about 6 feet down from the peak, and the two birds would stare at each other for about 5 seconds. Then the jay made two hops up towards the peak (Inside the Pocket) and then charged at the hawk –– screaming at him at the same time –– and the hawk would immediately fly away (Avoiding the Sack) and swoop down, squawking, then up again to land on the next roof’s peak. First Down!
The alpha jay would immediately pursue, with 3 other jays following just a few seconds behind. Each time the hawk settled on another rooftop the jays would disperse to multiple nearby rooftops and regroup (Huddle). Then the alpha jay would swoop in again to start the play afresh. Second Down!
After the first 5 minutes a second hawk joined the fray (Substitution?) and the jays had to disperse and regroup to change their strategy (Time Out). Two more jays joined to make a total of six jays. Lots of swooping with two-on-one and three-on-one plays ensued. A few jays flew over to a tall regional tree for a minute (Side Lined). I kept waiting for the quarterback to get sacked, but it never happened.
This aerial battle ping-ponging between the roofs of eight different houses played out over and over for twenty minutes (First Half). On occasion a hawk or jay passed so close to my vantage point (Out of Bounds) and it was quite the thrill to see them so close.
What a show!
In the end, both teams flew away and the backyard finally seemed quiet. I still don’t know who won.
Afterwards, the only thing moving was my favorite cabbage white butterfly, who was flitting around from my kale to the ornamental grasses, dogwoods, Japanese maples, lavender, the cherry tree and back again to the kale. It seemed oblivious to the battle that had just taken up most of the airspace minutes ago –– or, maybe it wasn’t.
Perhaps it, too, had taken refuge like the little birds until the show was over, and was the first one to venture out of hiding.
This white butterfly is my new muse.
As I finish writing this the smokey air is so dense I can barely see the rooftops. We’ll see what Nature Therapy tomorrow brings.