Early this morning I saw a Steller's jay swoop down from a large hemlock and
snatch an injured mouse in its beak and carry it off. I was surprised to
see a jay take a mammal, even if it was half dead. Later this morning after
I got to work, I looked up corvids in my Sibley's guide and read that jays
are omnivorous, eating anything from insects to fruit, to carrion. This
mouse wasn't carrion yet though. Has anyone else seen jays do this?

On a more pleasant note, I saw a pair of red-breasted sapsuckers foraging in
some conifers near the Sammamish slough in Redmond while I was taking my
lunchtime walk (between downtown Redmond and Willows Run golf course). They
allowed me to come close enough that I could hear them chattering as they
foraged. At the same time, near my feet was a swallowtail butterfly looking
for a drink in the moist grassy areas. Upon closer inspection I could see
where the sapsuckers had previously worked over the trunks, leaving numerous
horizontal rows of small holes. As I continued my walk I could hear many of
the usual birds singing, including a western wood peewee calling in the
distance from the other side of the slough, and numerous cedar waxwings.
The swallows were quite active too. Today seemed to be a particularly
active day for lunchtime birding in my neighborhood -- sunny, very warm,
with a nice breeze.

I almost forgot -- on the way to work today I had to stop my car for several
California quail when I was crossing the railroad tracks by the intersection
of 95th Street and Willows Road (a few blocks from the slough). I've also
seen quail hanging around the same tracks near the sixty acres soccer fields
a bit further north, and I often hear them calling from the thick vegetation
and blackberry brambles during my walks along the slough.

-jody


Jody Breckenridge
North of Monroe, Snohomish County