Archive For The “jay” Category

Early last Sunday morning I heard the thump of a bird hitting the glass door that leads out to my deck. I looked out and saw the bird stagger around the deck then take wing and land on the table on the deck. Birds do hit the door a few times a year and recover. So I went out as originally planned. (This photograph was taken later in the afternoon)
When I got back late in the afternoon…..
So when I returned, a stellar jay fledge was perched on the suet feeder. I stayed well back using my 300mm zoom lens. For almost 20 minutes, the bird never moved. I was wondering it the bird was blind….
Then the fledge flew down to the deck and then hopped–not flying–down the steps. I came out on the deck, still keeping far away from the small bird. It looked at me, so clearly the fledge wasn’t blind, as it looked up.
The fledge then hops into the grass of my backyard. It hops all across the yard to the back fence (not pictured) then suddenly flies over to the fence on the east side of my yard.
There was the fledge’s sibling huddled against the fence.
The two seemed to greet each other.
A while later, one of the fledges, walks toward the north fence of my hard. It looks up.
The young fledge tries to fly, but doesn’t make it. And grabs on to the fence with its feet.
So the pair walk toward the fence.
Again the fledge tries to fly over the fence.
So the pair walk through the bottom of the fence and disappear from my yard.
I was worried that the young birds, apparently still not able to fly that far, would fall victim to the cats that roam the park behind my house and sometimes come into my yard.
Then two days later, on Tuesday, on my morning walk I came across what I am pretty sure is the same pair, about a kilometre from my house, in a gap in a cedar hedge.
Here’s what I believe is the most adventurous of the pair looking out at me from the hedge.
Here’s the second one, a little further back in the hedge.
And the pair.
Haven’t seen them since, although I’ve been looking. I believe their parents are still around my yard, as a small resident family of stellar jays has been for years. So hopefully they’re either back with family or, since that hedge was close to the bush, they’ve found a new home in the forest.
One of the at least three families of stellar jays that live in the cedar trees at my house is bolder and smarter than the rest. Or maybe it’s a “point bird.” If I go out with a bag of seeds to refill the feeder, there is the harsh call of the stellar jay and in a few moments, the bird is close by (often on my deck) and watching me pour the seeds into the feeder.
So a couple of days ago, the stellar jay was sitting on my fence, watching, as I filled one feeder. Went back in the house to get a different bag, for a second feeder. Brought my camera along this time and caught the jay as it took off, heading right for me. Bold or what?
Here’s the stellar jay just a few seconds later on my deck.
A yellow-rumped warbler, a “common migrant” along the BC coast, sits on a branch on the new trail to Maggie Point near Kitimat harbour.
Mallards flying over the choppy ocean of Douglas Channel near Maggie Point.
A male Harlequin duck skims the choppy waters.
A Savannah Sparrow another “common migrant” along the BC coast, sits on my neighbor’s roof.
A robin checks out a Robin on my front lawn.
Golden-crowned sparrows are also regular lunch guests at my feeder.
Not sure who this little guy is. He was determined to get seeds and was good at finding the best spots in this feeder.
Salamanders
When I went out with the Kitimat Valley Naturalists, we went to special protected sites at Pine Creek, near Kitimat, to look for salamanders, part of a province-wide salamander count. Taken with a macro lens, but not exactly the best light. Next time I go out I will bring a small reflector.
So I had some interesting visitors at my bird feeders for Thanksgiving Dinner today.
The redwinged blackbird and his mate on my deck beam.
The BC redwinged blackbird is is somewhat different from the birds I photographed in Ontario, that at first I didn’t recognize it. This bird has a yellow tuft and the red isn’t as prominent, so that is why I am not certain (Comments please if I need a correction)
This female does look like the red-winged blackbirds in my bird books.
The stellar jays that live in the cedar trees around my house are regular visitors.
A crow prances on my deck.
Earlier on the weekend
And there were visitors who were also my guests for an earlier dinner.
A northern flicker samples the suet.
Another crow at the suet.

A Savannah sparrow samples the suet.