Tag Archives: who stole Mr Blue Jays Corn Cob?

Blame it on Dyson

According to all of those pop-ups on the computer that can drive you mad at times, today is Black Friday. The Friday after Thanksgiving to kick off a season of buying – all those things we want but don’t need, everything to put a smile on someone’s face for the holidays, etc. I said that I would not buy anything on a Black Friday sale. Famous last words?

Dyson is our resident grey squirrel with the ‘good tail.’ There are 2 others, another small one with a weird tail and the big grey one. Dyson got his name because he can suck up more bird seed than all of the birds in our garden together and in record time.

Dyson was regularly coming to take the corn cob away from Mr Blue Jay.

For several days Mr Blue Jay, Mrs Blue Jay and Junior thwarted Dyson’s attempts. And then Dyson got clever. OK, he is clever he just worked faster to get that cob out of sight.

The little grey squirrel would push and pull until he got the cob off the deck. He had to move it over cinder blocks and flower beds before getting it on the grass. Then he pushed and pulled and got it about 5 metres away. Then the cob disappeared.

Where his winter’s supply is, we do not know.

From the corn cobs Dyson advanced to the hanging tray feeder where he could sit or pancake himself eating all the glorious nuts and berries. That was until Little Red explained to Dyson that the hanging feeder is ‘off limits’.

Little Red cleared Dyson out of the hanging feeder in no time. I wonder if he has a silent alarm that lets him know if someone steps on that feeder?

Little Red enjoying a nut in the hanging tray feeder.

Dyson then discovered the ‘new’ chipped peanut and sunflower seed feeder with accompanying tray. No effort at all, just sit and vacuum out the goodies! I am certain the man at the birdseed store was laughing as I left the store the day he sold me that tray!

So, word of warning. If you have a persistent squirrel around that you love – and I mean who wouldn’t love Dyson? – don’t put a tray on your feeder so the seed won’t fall to the ground. All it does is act like a squirrel platform! Dyson has even be caught napping between meals on that tray!

Even though Dyson has found the ‘gold mine’ of feeders, he does not like to share his space with Little Woodpecker – and, yes – Dyson has figured out how to get at the suet cylinders, too! I went off today to see if there was ‘something’ for the woodpeckers that Dyson would not like. And that is how it happened.

I walked into the door of the seed store and was promptly met by the cheerful owner who put a bag in my hand and told me that it was their Black Friday Sale and everything that would fit in the bag would be 20% off. Dyson!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow’s challenge for Dyson will be the new wire mesh feeder with the chopped peanuts mixed equally with the Bark Butter Bits for Little Woodpecker. The owner smiled and said, ‘Make sure you don’t put a tray under the feeder!’

From Dyson and all the gang in the garden, we hope that you have a wonderful weekend!

Mr Blue Jay outwits Dyson!

Yesterday I revealed how we had finally figured out who was stealing Mr Blue Jay’s corn cobs. After several days of the cobs disappearing, we were able to catch the small Grey Squirrel in the act yesterday! We just had to look all over the garden to find the little thief!

To take the cob of corn, Dyson had to drag it for about 2 metres, pull it down steps and then 2 flower boxes. Once on the ground, he had moved it about 3 metres out of sight of the Blue Jays – and us.

I had no idea that these little squirrels were so strong. Persistent, yes, when it comes to food but, strong? The corn cobs are heavy when they have almost all the kernels on them. And this cob had only a few bites taken out of it before Dyson started moving it.

The Blue Jay family could not figure out what happened to their corn.

The real question was how to stop this activity. Dyson has lots of food – year round. Him and the other two grey squirrels have been coming to our garden for many years – 2016 for one of them. We have learned to identify them through different markings on their fur and we do keep a log. I have no idea how long urban Grey Squirrels normally live but having a penthouse (our shed) and readily available food, the vet told me she bet these three could live to be ten years old. They have no real predators other than the neighbourhood well-fed cats. The hawk that visits the garden is a Sharpie and him and his mate only take a small bird or nestling. So to cut to the chase, Dyson does not need to take Mr Blue Jay’s corn!!!!!!!!! There is never any chance that he would starve – he is just being a squirrel.

As all of you know, Blue Jays are part of the Corvid family, like Crows. These oscine passerine birds include crows, Mr Blue Jay and Company, Ravens, Magpies, Rooks, Jackdaws, Choughs, and nutcrackers. Most just say Crow Family.

Corvids are super intelligent, problem-solving birds. It seems that Mr Blue Jay was figuring out how to stop the squirrel, too, and he devised a very good method! I believe this is how it worked as I watched with camera in hand today for nearly three hours.

One of the three Blue Jays would land and watch the corn from the lilac bushes, about two metres away.

In this instance, Dad is watching from the lilac branches. He is ready to fly at Dyson if he comes near the deck where the other two are eating the corn.

Two of the Blue Jays would go down to the corn. This is Mum and their ‘baby’. Mum is nearer the corn cob.

When Mum finished eating, she flew away.

Junior went over to eat the corn under the watchful surveillance of Dad who remained in the lilacs.

While Junior ate, Mum was watching to make sure that Dyson did not come up on the deck, too.

When Junior finished, he flew off with Mum.

Would Dyson try and get the corn cob?

No way! Dad flew down to eat off a second cob of corn that I had put out. He was hungry too!

Junior flew back down to work on the other cob at the same time. Mum watched from the lilacs.

Sometimes Mum would fly down to be beside Junior and eat some corn, too.

They shared the one cob while Dad claimed the other.

There was no way that they were letting Dyson get their corn if Mum had to stand on it all day!

All of a sudden the pair become alert! They stop eating. Do they hear Dyson coming?

They look around.

Mum goes back to eating but Junior seems to think that Dyson might be coming up the other side of the deck. He seems to be listening and looking.

Junior turns all the way around.

Then all of a sudden Junior flies off.

It happened so fast I could not get a picture. Dyson had crept up to the other corn cob after Dad had left and had grabbed a kernel. Junior flew at him and sent him through the flower box over the edge of the deck.

Dyson did not come back all afternoon!

The Blue Jays were able to finish their corn cobs in peace. They figured out a wonderful way to get to eat their corn working together – way before this human came up with a plan. It was quite amazing to watch over several hours. I was truly impressed.

Wonder what will happen in the garden tomorrow?

Thank you for joining me this Friday. I hope that you are all well. Be happy. See you soon!

Who Stole Mr Blue Jay’s Corn?

It started out as a grey, damp, raining on and off again day in my neighbourhood and then…the sun came out, the sky turned blue, and the garden was a flurry of activity. As it happened, it also helped us solve a mystery: Who was stealing Mr Blue Jay’s corn cob?

Mr Blue Jay has been suspicious, too. Today he more or less stood guard while his partner ate her fill.

They had no more than begun their morning breakfast and the corn cob disappeared! So who is taking it? The largest of the grey squirrels was not around and even if Little Red’s ego would make him think he could shift that cob, he couldn’t. So who is it? For several days now we have not been able to catch the culprit but, today we did!

Look who has the corn! It is the smallest of the Grey Squirrels. It worked really hard to get that big cob full of kernels off the lower deck and around to the other side of the garden.

The cob has fallen in a little hole and the squirrel is able to dig its nails in and lift it.

Oops. It is falling down again.

He stopped to eat some of those prize kernels and then he began nibbling them off and burying them in the grass.

We left him to it and went and checked on the ducks at the local pond. When we returned the corn cob was gone and he was madly filling his cheeks with the nuts from the deck.

Just watching him I laughed and said that he was like a vacuum cleaner – and there you have it. That is how the smallest Grey Squirrel came to be re-named Dyson on 28 October 2021.

The duck pond was relatively quiet. Normally you cannot hear yourself think for the honking of the geese. The parks department has turned off the fountains and there were people raking leaves from the edge of the pond into a truck.

There were a few Mallards remaining along with 10 Wood Ducks. Apparently, 10 is a high number for Wood Ducks to still be at this location. Thankfully, I could prove to Cornell’s eBird Submit that there were 10 just through the photos!

It was cold walking around the pond and hopefully these remaining waterfowl will decide to move on to more warmer climates shortly.

Besides about 40 Canada Geese and Cackling Geese, there were a few Mallards. There was, however, one special little duck swimming around with all the regulars – a visitor. She was a female Ring-necked Duck. They are sometimes called a Ringbill.

Ring-necked Ducks breed across Canada during the summer and in a few northern US states. They live in freshwater marshes or near shallow ponds and lakes. You can apparently see thousand upon thousand of these ducks near Rice Lake in Minnesota during the fall migration.

They are dapper divers. This means they are quickly in and out, diving in shallow water to feed on aquatic plants, tubers, and invertebrates. They also eat worms, leeches, midges, and flies, etc.

There is a very distinctive grey head. The forehead slopes down and in a few of the images you can see the peaked rear crown. Because she has been diving, it is not as prominent as it might be when dry. The female has a white ring around its eye. The back is a gorgeous dark brown with a paler brown underpart. You can see the distinctive ring on the bill. That is not, however, what gives the duck its name. The males have a light chestnut coloured ring around their necks….something that is very hard to see I am told.

The colouring on this duck is simply gorgeous.

She really stood out

Sadly, there is another injured duck. This time it is a male Mallard in eclipse plumage. We will try to retrieve it tomorrow to take it to the rehabilitation clinic and that, for me, is always problematic. These two were inseparable all the time I was at the pond. Ducks do not form life long bonds but the bonding is seasonal. Still, it ‘feels’ bad to break the pair-bond but still necessary if this duck is to survive. It appears that it has a broken wing just like the female Mallard a couple of weeks ago.

Hopefully some food will lure this young man out of the centre of the pond tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Before I leave, I also want to introduce you to another streaming cam. Last year there was a lot of excitement when the two Great Horned Owls named Bonnie and Clyde stole the Bald Eagle’s nest on the grounds of Farmer Derek. We all watched in awe has Clyde hunted and Bonnie fed the two owlets. Well, I have another owl box for you to watch. This one is in Joburg, South Africa. It is the home of a Spotted Eagle Owl. On 13 October two eggs hatched. Today they are 15 days old. What makes this nest box interesting is that there was an orphan owlet placed in the box on the 22nd of October. It is 5 days older than the resident pair. No one knew if the female would accept the orphan – but she did. She is raising it as her own!

Just look at how adorable they are waiting for Mum to return with a meal.

There she is feeding all of them.

I think you might really enjoy seeing these three owlets grow up.

It turned out to be a great day for the birds. It is a relief to finally find out who is taking Mr Blue Jay’s corn cob. We are going to have to figure out a way to thwart Dyson. And then there is the injured Mallard to deal with – tomorrow.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope everyone is well and enjoying the birds. Next week they will be ringing the three osplets at Port Lincoln and in two weeks the Collins Four will be fledging. After that it will only be a week until Yarruga is ready to fly. Take care!

Thank you to the following for their streaming cams where I took my screen captures: EcoSolutions Joburg Owl Cam.