My scrub jay~Nature Notes~101311

One afternoon a couple of years ago, I saw a blue blur fly into my front yard.  I had been feeding the birds out front for some time and he just appeared.  He has now been in our neighborhood for over two years.  He's quite bossy and LOUD, but I sure enjoy watching him.  He's now calm enough to allow me to go out in my front yard and garden without flying off.  He'll tweek his head and look at me and when he sees my car drive in the driveway each afternoon, he immediately appears.  I notice that he takes a peanut and flies off to the neighbor's yard across the street.  I often hear him chattering further down the street and even on the next block.  He's quite a character and clown!  Sometimes he disappears for a couple of weeks, but he always reappears (so far...). He SHOULD be up in the pinyon forests of Deep Canyon, where I see his relatives.  Apparently he either got blown off the mountain or he chooses to stay here.  He did disappear last Spring for a couple of weeks, apparently looking for a mate, but the only other birds his size around here are the mockingbirds.  Honestly, if he weren't around, I'm not sure I would put as much food out for the birds in my yard. Nature Notes for October 13, 2011.  To visit Nature Notes, please go to:  http://ramblingwoods.com/

Scrub jay~Camera Critters 073010

We have a scrub jay in our neighborhood, down in the desert. He shouldn't be here. He SHOULD be up in Deep Canyon, in the pinyon country. But, somehow, he ended up at an elevation of 200 feet, in the desert. He has claimed our neighbhood as his territory. I first noticed him last spring when I was out feeding the birds in my front yard. He was a lot smaller then. I don't know how he ended up here, but he has now settled in and noisily announces his arrival every morning and afternoon! I can hear him all over the neighborhood as he visits his territory. He watches my movements and as soon as I throw out birdseed in the mornings and afternoons, he is the first in line to eat the seeds. I enjoy watching him and I hope that someday he will return to his homeland in Deep Canyon, but for now I enjoy watching his antics. For other critters, please visit: http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/