Stellar's Jay

Description:

This Stellar's Jay was found hopping about previously burned Ponderosa Pines within the Sugarite Canyon State Park. This Stellar's Jay is the "Rocky Mountains" or "Interior" form. Stellar's Jay's are a large jay species with a dusty-gray to charcoal upper body and head while the rest of the body is bright to deep blue. Stellar's have a large pointed head crest and white marks above the eyes and on forehead.

Habitat:

Stellar's are typically found throughout north American evergreen forests. This individual was spotted within a Ponderosa Pine/Gambel's Oak dominated montane forest at around 2100 m.

Notes:

This forested area is located within the Sugarite Canyon State Park which had suffered major devastation from the 2011 track fire. The fire burned massive amounts of trees and ground vegetation which forced the park to close for several months. The severity of the track fire is still seen today. Approximately 27,000 acres of surrounding land was burned, fish populations were completely decimated in the park's lakes and rivers due to massive amounts of ash. It has since recovered quite a bit and is full of green life; though signs of massive amounts of burned and felled Ponderosa Pines still haunts the area. Despite the obvious destruction I thoroughly enjoyed my time hiking through the park's mountains and was very impressed with abundant presence of wildlife.