“The Simmons family was awakened early this morning by a fearful commotion among the hundreds of jay birds which live in the big shade trees around their home. Mrs. Simmons went out to learn the cause of the disturbance but she had no sooner stepped outside the door than one of the birds flew down upon her and gave her a savage peck with its bill on top of the head.
“She rushed into the house and Virgil went out to investigate. He found two young birds had flown from a nest and were fluttering helplessly on the ground. He picked one of them up to take it into the house and he was immediately surrounded by a big flock of the birds which, headed by the distressed parents, pecked him on the head and in the face but did little damage as Virgil hastily retreated into the house.
“Later he put the two young birds into a tree so cats could not get them and the jay birds went after him again. They held a convention all forenoon and it would have taken a pretty good cat to have got to the young birds without being killed by the host of feathered guards.”
— Bluffton Chronicle May 24, 1905, front page center.
Angelkeep has never been head-pecked by a jay as was the case for Virgil Simmons at age 12. Virgil grew to importance in wildlife and nature of the Adams and Wells County areas because he was quite instrumental in securing the reality of Ouabache State Park. At the time the land was purchased for the park, then a CCC Camp, forest and game preserve, Virgil led as Conservation Commissioner for the entire state of Indiana, working directly under Governor McNutt.
Blue jays were native to Angelkeep, Ouabache, and Indiana, just like Virgil. He grew up to be a Bluffton lawyer, like his dad, and attorney Kenneth Kunkel, who was chosen Director of Fish and Game Division under Virgil to protect all forms of plant and wildlife throughout Indiana, not just the blue jays of Bluffton. It was Virgil who named Ouabache’s Kunkel Lake after his friend and associate. Just think of all the blue jays these two boys’ legacy protected over the 117 years since Virgil’s jay head-pecking adventure.
Angelkeep Journals has offered many past stories of blue jays. One winter with knee-deep ground cover, Angelkeep bird bath loaded with oil sunflower seed attracted enough blue jays that at one moment the rim of the bird bath was lined wing-to-wing with a jay dining flock. February was perfect for bird bath conversion to feeder. A pie pan or old cookie sheet on a lawn chair will provide an instant alternative. Once tried, bird lovers have converted to buying oil sunflower seed in 40-pound bags, just like Angelkeep.
Angelkeep jays have been known to pick up a single seed, fly to the aluminum house gutter, hold the seed by their talons against the metal gutter edge and peck away to open it for its inside meat. The drumming sound echoed even inside, causing much jocularity, as they might have said in 1905 in Virgil’s day.
Other birds loved the flat open bird bath feeder as well, but when a jay appeared, they seemed to rule the roost, and smaller birds bowed to the jays’ authority. Jays, on the other hand, helped all types of birds when a hawk flew into the neighborhood seeking a songbird meal. Jays routinely went into a “sound the alarm,” or a “Paul Revere” style warning by positioning themselves as a cohesive unit in all trees surrounding the offending bird of prey. As they watched, they squawked their lungs to a riotous noise, which in turn warned all birds of eminent danger. Jays continued the non-confrontational attack against the hawk’s dining intent until it moved on to an area far beyond sight.
Jays displayed a magnificent blue, navy blue, black, and white mix of feather color on wings, tail, and body. However, the underside, often missed by amateur bird watchers due to their eyes intent on the strong blue feathers, was nearly a pure white.
When a blue jay came flying over Angelpond from the south toward the bird bath feeder conversation, it pulled up for just a second before a two-point landing on the bird bath’s rim. With tail spread, wings fully deployed, and only the underside visible, the jay appeared to take on the personification of an all-white angel.
Angelkeep’s angel bird was worth every blue cent Angelkeep used to purchase oil sunflower seed encouraging visits January to December.
If you have no access to nature out your own window, Angelkeep strongly urges you to visit Ouabache State Park, made possible in a large part by Virgil and Ken. It’s a must-see right after a fresh February snowstorm, a wonderland of nature. Stop at the office and tell them Virgil sent you.
Mr. Daugherty is a Wells County resident who, along with his wife Gwen, enjoy their backyard and have named it “Angelkeep.”
