The fall colors are slowly disappearing. While there are pockets of trees that haven’t finished displaying yet and some are even still covered with green leaves, they are mostly over at the higher elevations. The wind and storms have taken their toll and many of the aspens are nearly completely bare.

This is the time of year when we begin to see large flocks of Stellar’s jays. We see them throughout  the summer but usually only single birds or the occasional pair that have chosen to nest nearby. But as the leaves fall so do the pine cones and that’s when these guys come in droves to make hay, or pine seeds, while the sun shines.

There is a special joy in walking through an aspen grove, scuffling the fallen leaves with your feet, listening to the satisfying crunch of the dry leaves beneath your boots as you move through the trees. With the wind blowing through the branches and tearing loose those last remaining leaves, they cascade through the air and if you’re lucky flutter and swirl around you as they make their final journey downwards towards their winter resting place. It’s like being inside a snow globe only with yellow and golden aspen leaves instead of snowflakes.

The Stellar’s have joined up into good-sized flocks and are industriously filling themselves up with pine seeds and other things they like to eat at this time of year. Their raucous calls fill the grove with sound as they tell each other bird things while they are feeding. It must be a rich language as where one was feeding alone, after calling, there will suddenly be five or ten of them gathered around it sharing the bounty.

They are somewhat skittish and although they might occasionally approach you they rarely let you approach them, flying up into the trees at the slightest movement towards them. You’ll probably be treated to a hail of calls from them which are surely Stellar’s jay profanity. They all sound like they may be from New York city.

These moments of walking and watching and experiencing this fall phenomenon are fleeting and somewhat bittersweet as you know they will soon be over. It’s the same feeling you get when you see an old dog with a grayed muzzle and faltering steps, You are witness to a change of the seasons, sad yet beautiful. Enjoy it while it’s there.