another raptor first - and a puzzle

A couple of weeks ago I saw my first wild bald eagle. Today, while driving down Rt 32, I spotted a sharp-shinned hawk just sitting on a light pole. At least I'm pretty sure that's what it was - it was a large raptor, dark gray on the back and wings and light on the breast. At 60 mph you don't get a chance for a really good look! But if it was a sharp-shinned, then that's another first!

Also, inside the fenceline at work where I can't take pictures, the other morning I heard a vaguely familiar birdcall very close to me. Looking up, I saw a bird, about 15 feet away, maybe 18, sitting on the branch facing me but ignoring me totally as it repeatedly dug its beak into a hole. It was something unfamiliar to me - gray, with a broad white collar around its neck, and a slight apparent crest. It was also very fuzzy looking. I watched it for several minutes, trying to figure out what it was - some out of place western jay? Not a cedar waxwing, or a female cardinal - entirely the wrong color, neither buff nor greenish.

Then it turned around on the branch and its back was a familiar bright blue. It only paused there a moment before flying to another tree and joining a couple more like it and an adult blue jay. All I think is that the jays must have laid eggs back in the false spring we had, and managed to feed them over the brief bitter cold and snow, and that these were adolescents.