Well, that is very interesting. Glad you were able to witness the crime.
A few years ago, I had a very tall bush of Elina. We kept noticing that the flowers would open and then they would disappear. One day I was looking out of my kitchen window and saw a squirrel running along the top of our wooden fence. He stopped, turned toward the rose bush, leaned over, and bit off the flower that was near the top of the fence. We laughed and just figured that he had a girlfriend. After that we kept the bush at a more reasonable height.
Suebelle

Haha I like hearing your story about Mr. Jay and even though he is quite naughty to be burying seeds in your plants, he sounds very entertaining lol.

I wonder if you could put chicken wire around your Bro Cadfael roses for awhile then he will have to find a new spot to hide his goodies (hopefully not in anymore roses lol). Then maybe you could uncover them again when he finds a new habit.

I also have a bird who is crazy for our LSU Purple figs that I have planted all over the place. He is a big fat ,black, free ranging Marans rooster who tries all kinds of shenanigans to get the figs. He's way fat to fly so he jumps which is pretty comical. We renamed him Mr Newton cuz he's so crazy for figs.

~SJN

Yes, Mr. Scrubby (his name here) is a very busy guy, burying all sorts of stuff. I have a thriving peanut crop out front thanks to the misguided neighbor who gives Mr. Scrubby raw peanuts. They bury all surplus food, including the bread crusts (!) that students at U.C. Davis give them after being relentlessly panhandled by the resident jays at lunchtime (and the burial protocol is very methodical: dig hole in lawn or ground or mulch with several swipes of the beak, place item, replace material neatly and tap two times -- the same way every time). He likes my figs, too, and as you say, is very discerning.

Have you tried constantly cutting the alien seedlings and any resprouts off at ground level or lower? By depriving them of photosynthesis, they should eventually die. The palms, in particular, are susceptible as they only have one growing point and shouldn't resprout. This might save your Brother Cadfaels.

Shhhh don't tell mom but I love the blue jay. Seems Jay likes eggs and in the old hen house he would sample the eggs if mom was not fast enough. With the new hen house, he has not figured out all the doors to get to the egg box.

The neighbors put out peanuts for him and the woodpeckers so there can be quite the fight over who gets the nuts. I have to laugh at the peanuts when I find them in the garden, but since they don't sprout here I don't worry about them. The feed store has a jay who flies in daily for his ration of peanuts hopping around the customers until he gets what he came for.

Oh, that is so funny Kippy! I used to go to a topiary nursery just a couple of miles north of me (unfortunately the economy took care of that nursery and it is now gone like a lot of them). The owner who welded his own topiary frames had made a "pet" of one of the Jays and he would fly in for feedings all the time. Wasn't afraid at all. He even had a name for him which I don't recall.

Catspa, I have tried doing exactly what you suggest but to no avail. I get two branches instead of one. Yes, that seems to be the protocol for planting here at my house too!

SJN, I would love to meet Mr. Newton! I love, love, love Marans! Especially Black Copper Maran hens and Cuckoo's. They are gorgeous, amazing chickens. I thought I saw one on the side of the road going home from work the other day. I seriously thought of stopping and swiping Ms. Chicken right off the side of the road! Of course, I didn't, but the thought occurred to me and I couldn't believe that someone would let that chicken be along the side of the road. Of course, I didn't get an opportunity to see if they had the feathery feet, so it could have been another chicken with black feathers, but my first thought was, is that a female, black copper Maran?

Suebelle, your squirrel has very discriminating taste and he has one lucky girlfriend!

Hi mustbnuts, We love Marans here and have quite a few breeds. I have kinda quit breeding them and just let them free range together on our 4 acres of course they get locked up at night or something will eat them for sure with all the woods behind us lol. I used to be into pure blacks and blues Marans quite a bit. I was working on lavender Marans as well and have some first and second generations still. I have been too busy to work on them much but hopefully we can get back to it sometime soon.

Here is a link to my profile on byc that has a bunch of our Marans on it.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/g/a/6314905/marans/

Oh SJN! I love, love, love your beautiful Marans and Cockoo's. That Black Bart is just gorgeous! You have the darkest eggs I have ever seen. Just stunning! Bet the poop was good for your plants too! Lavender Marans? I so need to win the Lotto so I can have some land and some chickens, and mini horses, and other birds, and roses.....

When I saw the eggs my first thought was that they were chocolate truffles (my mind is always on dessert). I had no idea eggs of that color even existed. The rose forum can be educational about so many things. A very enjoyable post, by the way.

I second Ingrid's comments. Very enjoyable and very instructive.

I want a couple of Marans hens. But until we find out if Mr Bobcat is gone I have to stick with the hens we have. Much easier to keep 4 in a coop. There is a lady to breeds them here, but the timing has not been good in the past to get a pair of chicks from her and a few of the Easter eggers for mom

My fig tree has gotten somewhat large, too large to totally net last year, so I ended up just netting the fruits that started to turn color (ripen). That worked just fine. The birds pay no attention to the unripe fruit.

Thanks! They have so many different colors of eggs now days and varieties of chickens too! One can hardly keep track anymore lol. I like the Easter Egger colors...blues, greens, pinks..so pretty! We bred some Olive Eggers from pure Ameraucanas (blue egg gene only) and Marans (dark brown egg gene). They are neat too. They lay a very dark olive green egg.

The Marans do lay a dark egg but not all of them. We worked very hard getting our egg color that dark. I started with one decent hen that laid about 3 shades lighter than that super dark chocolate color in the pics. Then line bred her (with her son) etc and incubated only very darkest eggs & tag the chicks to keep track of who came from the darkest of the dark and so on, until I got that nice dark color. It turns out that the egg color that the rooster hatched from is just as important as the one the hen hatched from when it comes to breeding for dark color.

Love the genetic info on the chickens. I didn't know about Easter egg chickens! Love learning new things.

Hoov thanks for the advice. The fig trees are pruned to be multi-trunked so they stay small and manageable. This area used to be the fig capital and the trees get huge here. Last year was the first year I saw birds trying to eat not so ripe figs. I think they were hungry with this drought. They didn't get too far with the unripe ones but with the Kadotas and Calmyrnas we grow in the area which are green when they are ripe, I think they try anything that looks like a fig. Oh, and part of my fig rules are that they get the ones I can't reach. Since I am "height challenged" they do all right.

My tiger striped figs are extremely sweet and taste almost like strawberries. I also grow petite negri figs (mostly a french variety that they grow in pots).

These figs were early in the season so they are tiny. I will have to look up Ishia figs. Sounds interesting!

What kind is your tiger stripe? Panache? I got a cutting of blackjack and thought I would ask the neighbor for one of her Violette de Bordeaux

My daughter is desperate for a blue jay feather but refuses to buy one from a feather dealer because of unethical practices. If anyone manages to find a single blue feather, this gardener will be eternally in your debt if you would consider popping one in an envelope and mailing to the to the UK (postage costs reimbursed, of course).

Our european jays have the merest flash of blue on their pinions, but have never found a featjher that is not the usual russet colour.

Am envious and greedy for your figs.

I got to find that dwarf french fig for my patio. I grow in pots. Petite Negre is on my list dor my drawf patio orchard. Bookmarked your post.

Well now, this is the third time I am trying to post this message. If you see the other two that disappeared into the air, let me know.

Kippy, yes, I believe my striped fig is a Panache. I bought it at our local Fig Fest, when we had it. The CA Fig Assoc ruined it for us (but that is another story).

WHM--I found out the correct spelling of the fig is Petite Negri. I bought it from Edible Landscaping about 25 years ago. I have "created" two other trees from the mother tree. One I gave away and the other two are in my yard. I had them in pots for about 15 years and they did great. They are now in the ground and still very happy. http://ediblelandscaping.com/products/shrubs/Figs/PetiteNegri.php Here is a link. They still carry that variety along with other interesting edibles. I get two and occasionally three crops from those trees.

Camp, if I find a feather, I will gladly send it to you. I used to weave pine needle baskets and have some feathers woven into the rims of them. I will see if I have any loose feathers about. I am always picking them up off the ground when I see them. I think leaving a feather payment for all that bird had eaten in my garden and bathed in my fountain and drunk my water on hot days, would be the least he could do!

I will look for Jay feathers too Camps. I know I have found them in the past.