The jays are back

As opposed to last year – when most of the acorns in our two oak trees seemed to be affected by the gall wasp, leaving nothing but misshapen so-called “knopper galls” – this autumn, there are healthy, glossy acorns aplenty. The squirrels that live in the woods across the road discovered this soon enough, but strangely we didn’t see many jays foraging on nature’s buffet. Until I put up a ball feeder filled with peanuts the other day, that is. I guess they’ve turned into picky eaters, although eating the peanuts from the ball takes just a little bit more effort, as this photo shows!