Snow Bird Sees Rare Bird

It has possibly been the longest ever period between posts for the Yellow Brick Road…. and I cannot say what has kept my fingers off the keyboard, but this Snow Bird before doing anything else this morning has to write about having seen a rare bird.

The significance of this bird began many years ago, but came to full bloom on Friday, and was confirmed on Saturday. Perhaps all of life is like a pregnancy in that way: Between conception and delivery, there are many detailed steps that have to occur. There are three stages of fetal development: germinal, embryonic and fetal. Most people don’t talk about their pregnancy in these terms, but it can be helpful to know.(Cleveland Clinic)

I was riding my bike to a weekly thrift sale at Christ Community Church, here in Punta Gorda, on Friday, February 9, 2024, when I spotted a bird I could not identify. Not only could I not identify this bird, I knew beyond a doubt this was a species of bird I had never previously seen here, nor in Michigan, nor in Tennessee or anywhere else in the world I have ever been. As I stopped riding, parked my bike along the road, took out my phone and started walking that way, the bird flew up onto a utility pole. I snapped several photos but I was far away and the bird did not pose!

The bird was bright blue, close to the blue of an Eastern Bluebird, but much larger, about the size (and similar to the shape) of a Blue Jay. Definitely not like the Blue Jay markings or head.

At home that afternoon I began searching the internet and the fit that kept coming up was the Florida Scrub Jay. This bird is noteworthy on several counts. It’s the state’s only endemic bird, which means the Florida Scrub Jay is found nowhere else. It was listed as a threatened federal species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1987 and is protected by the Federal Endangered Species Act. I knew about this bird because of two dear Michigan friends who were avid birders. He died in 2008, and here is their Florida Scrub Jay Sacred Story:

Florida Scrub Jay
Published by Debra Basham in Sacred Stories in February 2023

She and her husband were avid birders. They loved traveling with a group, often going distant places in search of specific birds. One such sought-after species was the Florida Scrub Jay.

According to Wikipedia, the Florida Scrub Jay is the only species of bird endemic to Florida and one of only 15 species endemic to the continental United States. Because of this, it is keenly sought by birders. She and her husband had made this trip previously with their group, but the Scrub Jay had eluded them each trip.

After he passed, she decided to go to Florida in search of the Florida Scrub Jay one more time. This time, while she was there, she would spread some of her husband’s ashes.

Although in Florida, there are no state laws or restrictions on where you can keep or scatter ashes, she wanted to do this privately. When she felt the time was right, she hung back from the group and discreetly scattered his ashes at her feet.

Suddenly the entire group swarmed her! The precious, previously-elusive, prized Florida Scrub Jay flew down immediately and began eating her husband’s ashes!!!

She laughed later with friends saying she wondered what parts of him were being enjoyed, but mostly she let her heart be held by this evidence of his loving presence….

I sent the photos I took to my wonderful birding expert, Hart Rufe, who is a Snow Bird himself. He could not see the bird well on his phone but Saturday morning he responded, “I looked at the photo of the Jay on the wire, and was able to blow it up. It does indeed look like it could well be a Florida Scrub Jay. If there was one in that area, there should be more, as they are birds that hang out in small flocks of four or five together, with one normally on lookout duty.”

I looked up the spiritual meaning of the Florida Scrub Jay. That seems beautifully timed for our world as well: The ability to find solutions when none present themselves obviously requires lateral thinking, creativity and a willingness to be innovative and pioneering. Scrub jay teaches and fosters this ability as a guide, its presence in your life suggests that the ability to problem-solve is strong in you at this time.

Sunday morning I rode back to that area again, and while I did not have another sighting, yet, I had tears of awe realizing the odds of my seeing that rare bird while riding my bike past there at 10 MPH…..

This Snow Bird was certainly blessed beyond words by seeing that beautiful and rare bird which also has such profound meaning related to my friends.

Note* February 16 is the birth date of my Michigan birding friend whose ashes were savored that day by the Florida Scrub Jay.