POTD: Blue Meanie

POTD: Blue MeanieBlue Meanie
Cliff Lake, Montana
2015

A camp robber of a different type, this Stellar’s jay (also a corvid) was pretty good at chasing the gray jays around and making sure he had first choice of treats. This was the only decent photo I got of him as he was very skittish and barely landed long enough to snatch a cracker before flying off again. In contrast the gray jays were much more comfortable at hanging around with us at the picnic table.

4 thoughts on “POTD: Blue Meanie”

  1. You may have heard the story of Georg Wilhelm Steller while you were in Alaska, the biologist that “discovered” the Steller’s Jay, Steller’s Seacow, Steller’s Eagle, Steller’s Sealion, Steller’s Eider, Spectacled Commorant, and the unverified Steller’s Sea Ape. His story sounds much like the tale of the biologist in the Forrester’s tale MASTER AND COMMANDER in the Galapagos except he was with Bering in Alaska. He basically saved the second expedition after enduring a shipwreck and disease that decimated the crew and killed Bering. A German, Steller did not make friends in the Russian court by standing up for the Native Alaskans. He died of a fever in Russia at 37 trying to join another expedition that was headed back to Alaska. (Same thing seems to happen to those who oppose Russian leaders like Putin even today).

    1. Steve, I had not heard of Stellar. He sure got a lot of creatures named after him. Interesting comparison of his death with Putin’s detractors. Wonder how much is coincidence and how much not. I smell a conspiracy theory.

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