Jay Watch, Day 2

Day 2 of Jay Watch and, indeed, I was assigned a new route. Maybe providing a photo from day 1 helped determine that they would like photos of other birds. This day we would be fairly guaranteed Jays to count.

We did pass a Jay preening along the trail side as we headed to our early check points but we couldn't count it. It wasn't in our area. It would have to be picked up by a trailing group assigned there. The next stop yielded nothing more than Downy Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves, and Carolina Wrens. Fun to watch but not good enough to count officially.

The following stop was close to the area where I got shots of one family the day before. I was even dropped off at a counting station in view of the tree where my shot was taken. I heard Scrub Jays almost as soon as I stepped toward my designated spot and didn't even have to play the recorded Jay calls.

I saw a couple of the Jays swoop in from the left. Hummingbirds fed from the overhead branches and soon Chickadees surprised me from over my shoulder. Then I noticed one of the Jays moving from shrub to shrub. It appeared to be the unbanded bird from yesterday.



The other bird I photographed was back up at her treetop perch soon afterward. I wanted more shots but the transport vehicle was heading back toward me. Time for the next check point.

There, I heard a couple of Jays off in the distance and could barely make them out in the heat shimmer. They just wouldn't head toward me and the tape player. Perhaps it was because they were right next to another check point blasting Jay calls as well.

We headed to the next points being told to keep a sharp watch out. A known family group usually stayed nearby. I played the tape and watched for my alloted time and then started to walk toward the other groups. As I watched the Black Vultures and Swallow-tailed Kites rising to meet the morning updrafts I noticed some small shapes bouncing through the pine branches and heading in my direction.

Seconds later, the scout landed just above me.




He was soon followed by 2, 4, maybe 5 other Scrub Jays. They landed close and then flew to new branches quickly. I decided I would be better off snapping photos than trying to get band IDs with binoculars so I fired away. I got many identifying shots. Even when they end unbanded like this bird it is good for record keeping.



We all met up near the transport vehicle and compared notes. The scout was now at the top of a pine tree right next to us. The remaining birds had dropped down into the scrub. We called to them once more. An adult female jumped up to investigate soon to be followed by a juvenile!

As far a cuteness goes, this young bird stole the morning. I hadn't even realized this shot looked like this until I got home and processed files. It is now my computer desktop.



It hopped around right in front of us for a while. Then, we found out that this bird was a young female. How? She began attempting the hiccup-like calls only used by the females. This shot was taken in mid-call.



We had a couple more check points to go but I ended up with probably my favorite pose just as we were leaving.



The last few check points were mixed. No birds where they had been seen before and some birds where they hadn't. The light was bad then as the rain clouds were building but we managed a few band readings. With those birds the day was concluded.

Not a bad tally. Only another year until the next counts.