My students and I got a very up close and personal look at a Juv. Barred Owl
just outside Wallace Falls State Park. Later I went back to get some
pictures without so many kids and easily found the owl again. A Stellars
Jay was heckling it, diving and yelling at the owl for a couple minutes and
when I approached to get closer pictures, the jay flew off a little ways,
still muttering. Then as I was shooting pictures I saw through the camera
lens the owl completely fluff out its feathers, then smooth them back to
normal, lean forward and take off. I lifted up the camera in time to see
the owl dropping on the Jay, which was perched in the middle of the dirt
road WITH ITS BACK TO THE OWL.....I have no idea what school they send Jays
to, but clearly it missed the lesson not to turn your back on a predator.
Several feet before the owl actually reached the Jay, it whipped its head
around, hunched down on the road as if unsure whether to run or fly. It
sort of did both, crashing into the Salmonberry on the side of the road as
the owl swooped over it, then came up on a branch, low to the ground and
just above the area where the Jay was no doubt shaking in its boots in the
thin brush. The owl was very interested in where the jay was, and
constantly moving its head to get a better look. I could not see the Jay
but I assumed from the actions of the owl it was still on the ground since
the only clear way out was into the road opening. The drama ended a minute
later as a car drove down the road, stopped right next to the owl, which
flew up higher into a Maple. The jay, who had been hidden all along, bolted
behind the car across the road, the owl following in pursuit.

Rob Sandelin
Naturalist, Writer, Teacher
Snohomish County, WA