Season's Greetings

[N'kwala]

[/url]Untitled by https://www.flickr.com/photos/10148394@N04/]

 

[ski3pin]

I like it, the winter holidays Scrub Jay!

 

[N'kwala]

They're not good at carolling but they actually do exchange gifts.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Liz, they have a wonderful song

I hope you had a nice Christmas!

 

[N'kwala]

Well, this is actually the background to this. My mom lives on a third of an acre out of Sacramento that was an apricot orchard years back. There were also two really wonderful blue oak trees. All of this was apparently attractive to scrub jays. There have always been lots of them in the area and we really think they act as watch birds. They come out and follow me if I'm digging the garden or weeding. And yell their birdy lungs out if cats, owls or hawks are in the area.

My mom, now very old (101) maintains they have adopted us. Yes, I like the song (?) too, although it's not as operatic as the mockingbirds who also live here in good numbers.

So yeh, they're kind of family. But also, if you read up corvid intelligence you'll know these are Very Smart Birds. And yes, I've seen them giving one another acorns (apparently they also share grubs) as what seems to be social bonding. When they nest they put up a couple of mock nests in the area as well as a well-hidden one where they lay their eggs. Quite canny. Yes, I like them. I like bluebirds, too, but they don't seem to be as interesting characters as these guys. Hence the "Western Scrub Jay of Happiness."

I hope you had a nice Christmas, too. Ours was pretty good, thanks.