Ravens and Jays in Algonquin!

Prior to our Moose encounter along the Rail Trail, we enjoyed the antics of 2 Common Ravens. They are conditioned to being fed by people and will sometimes come close to see if you have food to share.

Ravens are confident, inquisitive birds that strut around or occasionally bound forward with light, two-footed hops. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Raven/id

Sometimes Ravens even have the need to scratch an itch!

Common Ravens along the Rail Trail have learned to dig up turtle nests and eat the eggs, much to the disappointment of turtle researchers.

Canada Jays were on our "hope to find" list and they didn't disappoint at the Logging Museum parking lot. Deryl managed this photo which amazingly does not show any leg bands.

Canada Jays have been researched in Algonquin Park for over 55 years. Nestlings are given a unique combination of coloured leg bands. The bands help monitor breeding success and allow researchers to follow individuals throughout their lifetime. 2 bands are visible on each leg in the above photo.

https://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/canada-jay-research/

We both took a turn at hand feeding peanuts in the shell to these birds.