a virtuoso Blue Jay

With the virtual disappearance of Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles, the most common species around has been the Gray Catbird. Almost as common as the catbird is the American Robin and the loud and noisy Blue Jays. Yesterday, I heard a descending screech that I thought might be from an owl or unknown hawk but, after a few rounds of these calls, the sound suddenly switched to Osprey! It was indeed a Blue Jay practicing its raptor calls. More normal Blue Jay calls are everywhere as these birds work through the oak-and-hickory canopy looking, as I suppose, for acorns.

I got several reactions to my note about big black elongated wasps. The one with blue wings and an orange-and-black abdomen is almost certainly a Scolia dubia or Blue-winged Wasp. These wasps, which are commonly seen nectaring on flowers in late summer (the Wikipedia picture seems to show one on a Goldenrod), lays its eggs on beetle grubs including June bugs and Japanese beetle grubs. The other wasp, which was all-black with blue patches on the abdomen, was more difficult to identify. It's possibly another form of the same insect or a close relative. I'll have to try and get some pictures.

Eric Salzman