Dave Mull and the Courage of Steller’s Jays

BirdNote^®

Dave Mull and the Courage of Steller's Jays

Written by Mark Bramhill

Mark Bramhill: This is BirdNote. 

[Ambient but lively electric guitar and synth music "Island Endemic" by Dave Mull]

Mark Bramhill: Skateboarder and birder Dave Mull remembers one of the first times his two passions intersected — he was practicing this terrifying trick he called the "stump jump" using this big tree stump:

Dave Mull: An Ollie over a grass gap onto a stump, and after the stump, there was about a nine foot drop, over a fence. So I had to get like just the right amount of speed and it was scary to think if I didn't make the first jump onto the stump. And if I just fell like face first down, that was like the biggest fear.

While I was preparing to try the trick, the Steller's Jays were just going off, flying all around the area.

[Steller's Jay calls, ML 271417291]

Dave Mull: And at one point I thought I heard a Red-tailed Hawk and I looked around and was like, I don't see it anywhere. And I looked up on a branch, like high up in a cedar and it was totally the Steller's Jay mimicking a Red-tailed Hawk.

[Steller's Jay mimicking a Red-tailed Hawk, ML 49247231]

Dave Mull: These Steller's Jays were like pretending to be something they were not, kind of tricking the world. So it got me in this mindset that I could be something I was not.

[Steller's Jay mimicking a Red-tailed Hawk, ML 49247231]

Mark Bramhill: And with that newfound confidence, Dave got his running start...

[Sound of running, skateboard ollieing onto a stump, silence as it falls, then clacks onto asphalt and coasts off; Dave screams in excitement]

Mark Bramhill: …and nailed the trick.

[Dave continues making excited noises on the recording]

Dave Mull: From that point on every time I see Steller's Jays, I'm reminded of one of the scariest and happiest moments of my skateboard career so far. So, thanks, Steller's Jays.

[Steller's Jay calls, ML 271417291]

Mark Bramhill: For BirdNote, I’m Mark Bramhill.

###

Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Steller's Jay ML 49247231 recorded by Paul Marvin, and Steller's Jay ML 271417291 recorded by Garrett Lau.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote   December 2022         
Narrator: Mark Bramhill

ID# mulld-01-2022-12-12    mulld-01