THE GOSSIPS...

...otherwise known as Blue Jays, taken at one of the feeders in our back yard a while ago.

Shrill, blue squawker...

Guardians of the forest gates.

Jay waits to cry out.

~Justin Farley~

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - SHARING A BLUE JAY TAKEN BY...

our son on a walk near where he lives. I am always grateful to him for sending his photos as I haven't taken any birds lately. I share some facts about them below.

They are known for their intelligent, noisy nature and are important for planting oak trees by burying acorns, many of which they forget, helping to spread and plant oak trees. 

Their striking blue color is an illusion created by the feather structure scattering light, not pigment, a phenomenon known as light interference. 

 Many notice that Blue Jays, who are fairly quiet during the spring and summer, are noisy little neighbors during the fall. In spring and early summer, when they are nesting, they tend to be more secretive. Come fall, when they are scavenging for food and hawks are more present, they communicate a variety of information and warnings through their calls. Blue Jays can also mimic the calls of other birds, including hawks.

They use their crests to communicate mood and aggression, with a flattened crest indicating relaxation and a raised one signaling stress or threat. 

They develop strong social networks and have complex social behaviors. 

You can't tell the difference between a male and female Blue Jay, they look identical. 

They eat a variety of foods, including nuts, seeds, insects and even the eggs and nestlings of other birds.

They prefer deciduous or mixed forests but can also be found in suburban areas and city parks, especially those with oak or beach trees. 

Blue Jays can live for a long time; the oldest known wild Blue Jay was almost 27 years old.

Blue Jays have been known to chip at and hoard light-coloured paint, probably to stockpile a source of calcium for the spring. If Blue Jays are chipping away at the paint on your house, try providing an alternate source of calcium like crushed egg shells – this usually stops the unwanted behavior.

More information can be found at this link.

Thanks for looking and with thanks to my dear son who provided the photos for today's blog post.

Have a great day everyone!

SATURDAY MORNING AT THE BIRD FEEDER

And then the rain stopped!

And that's how it goes on a Saturday Morning at the Bird Feeder!

Thanks for stopping by 

and have a great weekend!

 

SATURDAY MORNING AT THE BIRD FEEDER

 

And so it goes on a Saturday morning at the bird feeder. It really has been all quiet out there, but quiet is good! I can do with quiet!

Thanks for looking everyone, and have a great weekend!

SATURDAY MORNING AT THE BIRD FEEDER AND JUST UNDERNEATH IT, THE BLUE JAY ARGIE-BARGIE...

First of all there was one.

He had found this refreshing pool of water...

and had just decided to take his bath but then another arrived and...

he decided to jump in to claim his place.

He did not want to share the bath right away...

but the other was impatient and noisily voiced his objection.

That's when the argument started.

At first sitting on his haunches....

he decided to stand tall to see if he could intimidate his opponent.

Then they flew up in the air at each other with talons outstretched.  Too much for the late arrival!  He decided it wasn't worth all the fuss and flew into the trees to await his turn.  Thinking about it for a while the first Blue Jay said...

and he moved very fast...

so fast he was an absolute blur.

He had time to think for a while...

and just to prove a point...

he quickly finished his bathing and realized he

had taken too long with his ablutions.

A good learning lesson for the Blue Jay, compromise and civility!

Thanks for the visit and have a great weekend!

SATURDAY MORNING AT THE BIRD FEEDER - BLUE JAY SINGS

A little addition to my post today.  Gregg and I went out this morning, and on our way home we went through the drive-thru of my favorite coffee shop.  I usually drink black coffee at home in the morning, but for a treat when out and about, I will order a vanilla no foam latte.  I try to keep these down to a minimum.  If I have them too often it's not such a treat.  

When we stopped at a traffic light, we saw an interesting sight.  A young man was waiting to cross the street on this contraption, and as he was waiting, he was texting.  Well, at least he wasn't texting and driving.

At one point I saw his phone in one hand and a can of soda in the other. He was using the sidewalk and though I hoped other pedestrians would be able to steer clear, at least he wasn't on the road with all that traffic.  I wonder what the rules of the road are about these things?  Gregg didn't think they would have to get a license, that it would be like riding a bike and you'd just have to use your common sense.  Hmmm.....

I was interested in looking further as I had never seen anything like this before.  I went on Amazon and found it here.  As you can see it is not cheap at $2,399, with the option of paying in instalments.  

The strange thing is, this afternoon we had a phone call from our son who was walking in his neighborhood.  We told him about our unicycle sighting, and I sent him my photos.  

He told me he had seen them before because people were riding them where he lived, and then a good grief moment and a few seconds of silence.  I said what, what's the matter?  He replied that there was someone at the intersection waiting for the light to change, and immediately sent photos.  

I noticed that this young man was wearing a helmet, with nothing in his hands.  It also looked a little different, and was more colorful, perhaps reflective stickers?

And then I thought how on earth do you balance on one of those things?  I have a hard time on two wheels let alone one.

The last few days have been wonderful, with the temperature reaching 67 deg. F. yesterday, and then down to 58 today.  The next few days will be the same, heading up to 69 one day.  Hopefully we'll be able to get out and go for a ride, plus a nice walk somewhere.

So that was our day.  I hope yours was a great one.

Enjoy your weekend!

SATURDAY MORNING AT THE BIRD FEEDER

When I saw this Blue Jay in such a pose I was worried about its health, but on doing some research I learned that it is commonly called "anting". It is a way they clean their feathers. 

A person was answering someone in a forum when I did a search, and said they more often see this behavior in the Carolina Wren but also have observed it in the Blue Jay population, though not as often (see added note below post).

But, another reason, and one I am inclined to believe in this case is that our Blue Jay is ‘sunning’.  There is a great YouTube video (link below my post) that explains in more detail. 

Later I found my Blue Jay singing one of my favorite operatic pieces.  I didn’t like to say out loud but he was more screechier than Luciano Pavarotti.  You can listen to Luciano’s version at this link.  

Thankfully, a few moment later, Blue Jay flew up into the trees.  It was a relief to know he was okay.

Thank for visiting me today and I hope you get a chance to sing your own favorite song.  Would you like to tell us what it is in the comments, just for fun?

Whatever you are doing today, I hope it is a great one.

Added note: I found a little more information on ‘anting’.  You can read about it here.  There is a YouTube at this link that shows you their behavior.  I am not sure now whether our Blue Jay was anting, as this usually takes place on the ground, where they actually lie on ants.  I have definitely never come across this before.  Now, when we had trees where its branches lay over the deck rail, we did have ants but none since they were cut down.  I am now wondering if the Blue Jay took a bath in the bowl of water I keep out there, and was drying its wings.  The third reason and my favorite explanation, is the one I saw on YouTube, that it was sunning as mentioned earlier.  

AND THEN THE SNOW

I took these photos with our camera from inside the house, not the trail cam.  That came inside when I realized the snow was coming. Its lens in rain and snow gives some interesting effects, but on the whole the photos are poor.

When I wrote this, (Saturday, March 12th, 2022), it was snowing since early morning, and 21 deg. F.  The day before it was well into the mid 60s.  Today (the 15th) it is 72 degrees.  The birds must have been wondering what was going on.

Fluff your feathers out more, said I, you are supposed to be flying north!  

I have been enjoying watching the birds and squirrels.  Several had their feathers fluffed out more than others.

The squirrels lay with their backs to the wind and their tails flattened over them, to try and keep warm presumably.  Just like we would put on extra layers, they make good use of their tails.  I have noticed the birds sit/stand in the same direction, against the wind, a whole flock of them.  Maybe you have noticed this also.   I haven’t done any research, so I am adding it to my list of things to find out.

The Starlings were having more than their share, but were not in as great numbers as the Grackles. It seemed to me that there was an abundance of our feathered friends, more so than normal.  The  snow had actually brought dozens to the feeders, a steady stream of them.

For the first time this year I noticed a Red-winged blackbird.  The shoulder patch showed a little yellow, with a faint touch, very faint, of red.  Perhaps a non-breeding male?  

The only time I notice them is during the warmer months at Huntley Meadows, always near the water, with a very rare sighting at our feeders.  There is a creek nearby but I think they are passing through. 

The male Northern Cardinal gave me the eye, saw me taking photos but posed nicely.

And then he had enough and flew up into the tree.

I saw a Dark-eyed Junco on another branch, patiently waiting a turn.

For the first time this year the Common Grackles showed themselves.  You can't see by this photo, but there were literally a couple of dozen in the highest part of the tree.

Fascinating birds, I enjoy observing them.  

The Blue Jays are back also…

and the American Robins…

and mustn't forget these little darlings, the Carolina Wren.  Probably wondering if she would get a chance to eat from the suet feeder, but she scratched through the snow and found some tasty seeds below her feet.

Later she found space above, with the company of a House Finch.

The Furry One was there...down below on the deck…

as well as other family members.

He didn't have to dig very deep before finding food.

He remembered his manners and said thank you for replenishing their food all through that snowy day.

You are very welcome Sweetie!

When the wind was strong, sitting on the hanging feeder must have been a roller coaster ride, and sometimes the feeders were doing good impersonations of spinning tops, set into motion by each bird coming and going.  (I made sure they were secured tightly.)  Spinning tops aside, they got on with it and kept eating, sometimes chasing each other off to get their spot.  

It was quite a day and when the wind picked up, heads were lowered as the flurries of snow hit their faces.  At one point I watched a Starling battling a gust of wind.  A thought crossed my mind of what it must be like in a wind tunnel.  It was struggling for a few seconds, and then the gust went away.  It settled on the rail where it scratched away the snow to get at the seed, just like this American Robin did before him..  

As I mentioned, there were a lot of birds at the dinner table, much more than we usually get.  Was it the snow and the lack of food elsewhere? I did give them extra birdseed between those flurries, it was the least I could do.  It was such a dramatic change in the weather, as yesterday the sun was shining and in the 60s.  The weather people told us we were under a storm watch.  It started raining in the night, which turned to snow.  Fortunately not as bad as before, and it was a wet snow.  As I finish this post off it has all melted.  

This is our weather through to Tuesday the 22nd. 

That's the end of my bird viewing during snow day at home.

Thanks for looking and enjoy the rest of your week.