My Bluejay Buddy

[CrealCritter]

The last 3 springs I have a bluejay that shows up on the back porch. The first spring (he/she) would follow me sometimes. I kind of thought it was annoying at first. But then when I went outside I would wonder where he/she was.

That very first spring, I almost trained he/she to come by hollering BluuuuJ. I started giving he/she sunflower seeds when the blue jay would come when I called him/her.

Most every morning the blue jay would be on the back porch waiting for a treat. Twords the end of summer the first year, blue jay and I became pretty good friends. As we learned to trust each other blue jay would fly out of tree and land on my shoulder or my head and sqawk at me. I would carry shelled sunflower seeds with me most times and he/she would eat them out of the palm of my hand.

The last two springs he/she came back to visit, hang out and get treats. I'm anticipating his/her arrival again but nothing yet.

Last year I noticed he/she had a bit of graying around his/her head. I just hope he/she is not to old to make the return flight back to his/her summer home and hang out with me again.

Today, my wife was laughing at me when we were outside and I was calling him/her. She said I sounded so funny holliering BluuuuJ. I suspect it is kind of funny sounding. But If he/she returns, i'll make sure to get a few pictures and maybe a video.

 

[flowerbug]

none of the birdies here are that tame, we did not have a lot of bluejays around until a few years ago, i think their population was knocked back by the West Nile virus. they've been around a lot more the past few years.

we have a lot of bird diversity here, one way i make sure that continues is that i keep the grackle population down. at one time we had a dozen nesting pairs of grackles which is an insane level of grackles when you have a flock of 50 or more birds.

right now the usual suspects are trying to get their territories and nests picked out and i'm discouraging them as much as i can.

this morning i went out to check something else and there was a pile of feathers under a tree from something that must have eaten a grackle. perhaps a hawk got it.

we have a lot of other birds besides bluejays.

right now i'm hearing the killdeer sqwawk. we usually have a few nesting pairs of those around.

cardinals, robins, northern thrashers, house finch, some other tiny birds, hummingbirds, blue birds, purple martins, ducks, geese, pheasants, blue herons, crows, wild turkeys, goldfinches, redwingblackbirds, mourning doves, cat birds, ... i'm sure there are others i've not put down that i've missed.

i always enjoy sitting and listening to the birds when i'm taking a break from gardening. sometimes i'll sit and watch the killdeer sitting on their eggs, they are fairly tame most of the time and i can sometimes get them so used to me being around that i can walk right by their nest and they won't move or peep at me. the hard part is when they lay eggs right in a place where i need to work. i try to get out before that happens to fill their first nests in so they'll find another space to put a nest - one that is less in the area i might be. they can be pretty persistent sometimes too though. i've had more than one season where they've sat on eggs, lost them after they've hatched or before and they'll sit on a second batch. they have much better luck inside the fenced gardens than outside. the raccoons and other creatures really get a lot of them.

 

[CrealCritter]

I currently have two pairs of barn sparrows nesting in my wood shop. I like that they are there.

 

[Hinotori]

I do what I can for our wild birds. I do fill feeders starting around January when food gets scarce. They get filled once a week because the red winged blackbirds bill out what they dont like. The tiny birds like finches and such will eat the fallen seeds. There are 2 mesh feeders for the little birds that last a week no matter what the blackbirds try.

Between the territorial blackbirds and my german shepherd, we rarely see European starlings anymore. Best thing that could happen for the natives. Starlings are morons. They squeeze through the chimney cap and fall down into my wood stove. Dog removes them when I open the door.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I love this time of the year, when the birds are setting up housekeeping. Today, there were a pair of nuthatches flitting around and calling to each other. they sounded kind of like a couple of kazoos! No body ever told them they can't sing. but,,, like me,,, they can make a joyful noise!

 

[CrealCritter]

Still no bluejay, hopefully soon. I've seen that several cardinals have arrived and annoying mocking birds. So the bluejays should be coming soon.

 

[Britesea]

The goldfinches have been swarming the thistle feeder; they are so beautiful in their mating plumage!