Rogue Jay

I have been saddened that the apple tree, heavy with fruit, has decided that it is TOO heavy with fruit. It's expected that they'll naturally prune themselves if you don't prune them (it has been recommended that I trim the bounty to just two apples per cluster, but I didn't), especially if the tree is under-watered. And so, I have been watering the drip line (the circle around the edge of the tree branches, which is where the most absorbent parts of the roots are), in hopes that it will stem the fall.

All of the apples which have fallen thus far.

And then, Scrub Jay visited while I was outside by the bird feeder. He cawed his typical greeting, which often means “it's 6am on a weekend and the bird feeder is empty, I will do this until you wake up and feed me!” He looked at me, the bird empty feeder, me, the empty bird feeder, and then flew to the apple tree. He looked back to be sure that I was watching, and with two swift pecks he violently “liberated” an apple from the branch, and it plunked loudly to the ground. He looked back at me and tilted his head in a “there's more where that came from” and flew away.

I haven't been keeping up with the demands placed on the bird feeder. I am being punished by the bird. What a wise bird.

>.<