Thanks for this piece, David. In our neighborhood over the last three years, we've witnessed the aggressive encroachment of scrub jays on what has been the Steller's jays' domain. Sadly, this year the Steller's jays did not return to nest in their habitual spot in our garden. The presence of scrub jays north of the Columbia River has happened in my lifetime. They have their own kind of beauty, of course, but we are heartbroken not to have the magnificent Steller's jays around. We've also noticed that there aren't as many flickers around as we used to see. As for noise, as SeaTac Airport has grown, the flights roaring over our Des Moines neighborhood have increased. That's hard on human residents and certainly hard on the wildlife, too. I wish travelers would recognize the impacts of their actions and commit to flying less! - Barbara McMichael
You failed to print the 'groan alert' after the Vitrus Bering reference. But at least we can see that you are still having fun writing this column. And clearly I am enjoying reading it each week.
Thanks for this piece, David. In our neighborhood over the last three years, we've witnessed the aggressive encroachment of scrub jays on what has been the Steller's jays' domain. Sadly, this year the Steller's jays did not return to nest in their habitual spot in our garden. The presence of scrub jays north of the Columbia River has happened in my lifetime. They have their own kind of beauty, of course, but we are heartbroken not to have the magnificent Steller's jays around. We've also noticed that there aren't as many flickers around as we used to see. As for noise, as SeaTac Airport has grown, the flights roaring over our Des Moines neighborhood have increased. That's hard on human residents and certainly hard on the wildlife, too. I wish travelers would recognize the impacts of their actions and commit to flying less! - Barbara McMichael
You failed to print the 'groan alert' after the Vitrus Bering reference. But at least we can see that you are still having fun writing this column. And clearly I am enjoying reading it each week.