Tag: Scrub jay

Posted on

Bird Count!

Woodhouser's Scrub-Jay

This Is the Weekend of the Great Backyard Bird Count!

Bird Count – This is the weekend of the Great Backyard Bird Count! I know that many of my friends participate each year, and have a great deal of fun doing so. For some it has developed into a passion for birding year around.

Fledgling scrub jay bird count
Fledgling Scrub Jay: Water Is Life! Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count 2015

You have seen this little fledgling scrub jay from the summer of 2014 before. It is now an adult, and comes by frequently for peanuts. I hope it will be included in my lists for the 2015 Great Backyard Bird Count.

If you have never participated before, the instructions and helpful hints are here. Participating by looking, watching, making lists, and contributing is fun, and you can really get to know the birds of your area.

Posted on

Fledgling Scrub Jay

fledgling scrub jay

Fledgling Scrub Jay Enjoying Peanuts

This fledgling scrub jay was photographed in the summer of 2014. It is now grown, and comes with its family group to eat peanuts when I put them out. The scrub jays also eat sunflower seeds and some other forms of bird food I put out. But, peanuts are a favorite, and are from the fledgling stage!

fledgling scrub jay
Fledgling Scrub Jay, Enjoying Peanuts

Scrub jays are a very common bird in Albuquerque and the Desert Southwest. These birds are not shy! If I let their feeders run out of their preferred food, they will shriek at me as soon as they see me in the yard. That is not because they are afraid; they do not fly off. I have one peanut feeder on the patio table, and they will come within a foot of me to feed there once spring arrives and I am out more frequently.

Fledglings like this one will not appear until summer, but adults are around now. The streak of beautiful days we have been having in Albuquerque reminds me of days like this one was, and makes me anxious for their return.

Posted on

The Early Bird Gets the Water, the Worm, the Seed, and the Photo

Yesterday morning I was out photographing flowers in the yard. I noticed a lot of birds, but did not have the best lens on the camera for that type of photography. So, this morning I got up early and went out to see what birds were out today.

This is a juvenile scrub jay. The jays love peanuts, but will come for the water in a bird bath. This summer has been so hot and dry – New Mexico is in the midst of “extreme drought” – that many birds will come for the water, even without food being put out.

Bird scrub jay
Scrub jay

This is a white winged dove, keeping a wary eye on me. The pine tree shows damage from both drought and disease (dry trees are more susceptible to disease), but that tree is home to several birds. I hope it manages to survive.

white winged dove
White winged dove

For as long as I have lived here, a variety of birds have used this juniper as a type of “look out.” Birds also nest in this tree. This image shows a robin and a scrub jay. Scrub jays do not like to share, and the jay soon chased the robin off.

robin and scrub jay
Robin and scrub jay

House finches, goldfinches, road runners, sparrows, hummingbirds, and mourning doves are also seen very frequently here, so expect more bird photos.

Show Buttons
Hide Buttons
%d bloggers like this: