Watching Wildlife

Since I don’t like to sit still I don’t often get the opportunity to watch wildlife as much as Mike does who spends way fewer hours in the woods than I do.  When he deer hunts he always has great wildlife encounters because he is quiet and motionless.

Today he saw a Whiskey Jack land on a branch. When the bird tried to fly away he couldn’t leave the branch. He flapped his wings as hard as he could but a tail feather was stuck in the branch. The bird pecked at his tail, attempted to fly away again but still couldn’t get free.  After acting nonchalantly for a minute or so the bird would peck his tail again and give it another try.  This went on for almost ten minutes before the bird broke free leaving a feather in the branch.  It flew to a nearby branch to rest for a couple of minutes as if contemplating his next move.  Then it flew back to the branch, grabbed the feather in his beak and flew away for good.

What a fun thing to watch. I’m not sure why the bird went back for his tail feather, perhaps to use it in a nest? Whatever the reason it provided high quality entertainment for the deer hunters and made me chuckle too.