Tuesday, March 29, 2011

A Surprise Blue Jay

I've said in the past that blue jays were my nemeses. I don't really think I can truthfully say that anymore. I've since gotten some very good pictures of them in the past. And now I have a few more for you. And I even caught one on video! The video is a strange story.

Do you see what the blue jay is perched on? That is a nest, and I remember where it is! I hope I'll be seeing more of this bird in the future, and maybe even some little blue jays when they are big enough to come out. The nest is high up in that tree, but my hopes are equally as high.


And now for the the newest episode of Rat TV! I actually took this video a few days before I took the pictures, but I thin this might be the same bird. I got this from a different part of the trail, but I zoomed in to the general direction of this blue jay and its nest.

I was looking for a woodpecker that I kept hearing, so I zoomed the camera in to a far off part of the forest hoping to get lucky. And then in my view screen I saw a bird in the same general location that the sounds were coming from. I couldn't believe my luck! I thought I had actually found the woodpecker.

But then when I got home I was amazed to see this blue jay in the video. It is very hard to hold the camera steady enough at this distance to follow anything, but I did it for a few valuable seconds. I don't think it's the best video there ever was, but the story of my luck is amazing.

Here is more of the blue jay. It looked to be in the process of either building or fixing up the nest. It kept going back and forth, tweaking little things so they were just right. It's amazing that a bird can build something so complex as a nest. I challenge any intelligent human to do such good work.

This last picture was right before the bird flew off once again. It was busy and so was I. I had no idea how long it would be before the bird would come back, so I moved on my way as well. Getting pictures of a bird like this always means it's a good day.

This post was supposed to be up yesterday, but I forgot to write it. Really! I thought I already wrote it, and set it to post, but I discovered that morning I was mistaken. How's that for messed up? Now the mistake is corrected, and the thought of this error is funny. I hope anyone else's error can always be so amusing and in good cheer.

Have a nice day!

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14 comments:

  1. One of my all time favorite "Everyday Adventurer" posts. Catching a bluejay in the act of nest building or improvement (whichever) is thrilling and very unusual. I think this is testament to your dedication to finding new and unusual items to share in the woods near you. Very cool. Ratty!

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  2. Jays are very smart birds. When they see you looking at them with a camera they don't stick around.

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  3. Great post Ratty! I have watched lots of Bluejays around here for years but have never seen one at a nest. But I always have young ones. They grow fast but can still tell they are young. My Jays don't mind me taking their picture at all..Ha! Sometimes they look like they are posing for me. But then, I feed them. Take care Ratty!!

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  4. These are some lovely pictures Ratty....I'm amazed you got so close and I can't wait to see some activity coming from that nest!!

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  5. Wonderful find, Ratty! The nest and the blue jay photos are fantastic..

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  6. Great captures there. I look forward to seeing more of the blue jay and the progress in the nest. Maybe next time you'll even get that woodpecker

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  7. Blue Jays and spiders build all these amazing nest.

    They are great.

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  8. Well done! Those blue jays are so nervous I can't even get a still picture of one.

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  9. i love blue jays, and i always get excited seeing them and photographing them. however, i haven't seen one that is nesting yet, you are lucky!

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  10. Good work on photographing the Jays! One will occasionally visit here, but I have not had any luck at getting a good photo.

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  11. I always love it when Rat TV tunes into the Bird Channel! And we don't get jays like those in southern California - at least not where I live - so it is even better!

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  12. Those are amazing pictures, Ratty. That bluejay must be a personal friend, she/he allowed you to get such great shots. Is it the male or female who builds the nest? I would think the female but, then, maybe the fellow has to do the work of nest building since the female has to lay those eggs! At any rate, wonderful photographs!

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  13. That video is better than the sound machine I sleep to at night. Nice capture.

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