It's been a violent place, my yard these days. A few days ago a pair of
juncos faced off at the lilac bush, each trying to out twitter the other.
Clearly neither was giving ground and they flew out in a high noon showdown,
they landed like gunfighters, staring each other down, then flew into each
other, chest to chest, chipping away, and flying 3 feet into the air. Sort
of a tug of war, one went slightly backwards. They did it again, each time
one giving a bit of ground. This appeared to settle the matter. Later the
victor hurled insults from the edge of the yard and the vanquished retorted
from across the road. The road became the border of their dispute. The
valiant Mr. Junco as I refer to him, often perches on the shrubs closest to
the road, sometimes calling, sometimes just checking security. Eternal
vigilance.

A third junco, a female I presume joined my junco in the yard. The
vanquished one flew into the yard and all heck broke loose, with a flurry of
indignant chips and chirps they all three chased around the bushes. I
couldn't tell who was which but in the end there are now two juncos in my
yard. I now pronounce you bird and wife. The female had a bit of a run in
with noisy ms. Towhee. Ms Junco flapped out her wings and sent off a flurry
of chips to let Ms. Towhee know that the spot in the rose tangle with the
tallish grass was HERS, thank you very much. I suspect the fern tangle will
make a nice home site although I will respectfully keep my distance, knowing
how touchy she is about her space.

Rob Sandelin
Naturalist, Writer, Teacher
East of Maltby, Snohomish Co, WA

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