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Friday 8 March 2019

Joy among the blue jays

On a mild sunny day, my husband and I headed to the boardwalk with food for our old friends.  The peanuts and black sunflower seeds are popular with the birds and squirrels. Sometimes the blue jays are not interested in the peanuts. This day, we enjoyed the antics of the jays as eight of them vied for the nutty treats.


When we stopped at the bridge, two blue jays sat in the trees watching the proceedings. As we put down some peanuts those two flew in for the nuts while others flew to the limbs they vacated.


Before long, the eight birds flew in succession to take the peanuts and flew out again to deposit them elsewhere.






The steady flight of birds onto the bridge,





the retrieval of peanuts





and subsequent escape into the trees 





was fascinating to watch as it looked like the effort was co-ordinated by the flock.





At one point, one jay, in her excitement to retrieve the peanut, knocked it off the railing. You can imagine her dismay but the photo says it all.





Every now and then, an experience in nature is joyous. Feeding the jays was such an occasion. Their enthusiasm for the peanuts we offered, their painted colours and beauty in flight, provided a rare glimpse into blue jay behaviour and an interaction we had never experienced before. Nature at its best.

21 comments:

DJan said...

These are spectacular photos. I especially like the second one, where the jay is looking at you while descending. I so enjoyed this post. Thank you! :-)

PerthDailyPhoto said...

I love the little Blue Jays.. what a delightful series of shots Marie, I'm a wee bit green with envy 🐦

Debbie said...

peanut overboard!!! you captured some really awesome images, they sure did put on a show for you!!!

Shammickite said...

You got some really good shots of those blue jays. There are quite a few around here too. But I don't put peanuts out for them as I don't want to encourage the squirrels.

Anonymous said...

They are beautiful (albeit mean...to other birds) birds. Once in a while I would have put my dog's food bowl outside and the blue jays always would swoop down and steal the food...one by one! Andrea

Bill said...

What an experience and what superb beautiful photos.

William Kendall said...

That last shot is my favourite.

Rhodesia said...

Wonderful photos. Your Jays are so much prettier than ours. Have a good weekend, Diane

Barbara said...

What a fun day. Wish I had been there with you.

Tomoko said...

Those blue jays are beautiful!
Both of you had a good day!

baili said...

How sweet of you to remember the feathery friends always and take nuts along for them :)

day looks GLORIOUS and what a delight to have such beautiful cute birds around

so healing and soothing the nearness of nature is no doubt dear Marie!

loved the way you captured their attempts and one who is looking at falling peanut is perfect shot !!!

your commentary with each image made me feel almost beside you :)

keep enjoying the glory of nature my friend!

Laurel Wood said...

Great capture of the "lost" peanut!

Anvilcloud said...

What a wonderful outing for you.

Mage said...

...and what a wonderful outing for us too. Thank you. Yes, she looks truly dismayed to lose her peanut.

Angela said...

It must have been very interesting Marie to observe their behavior. Love those vivid blues in those feathers.

eileeninmd said...

Hello, fun captures of the Blue Jays. They do love the peanuts. Great series of photos. Happy Sunday, enjoy your day. Have a great new week ahead.

Catarina said...

What an extraordinary moment! And the photographer was there!
;)

Rick (Ratty) said...

I really like your bluejay pictures a lot. Back when my blog was going every day, I had lots of trouble getting a picture of a bluejay. I wrote lots of posts with comically bad and blurry pictures of them. I remember how much fun it was chasing those birds around for so long. I did finally get a few good ones.

Stewart M said...

Wonderful pictures - I have seen, but never photographed these birds - I would love to have the chance.

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Marilyn @ MountainTopSpice said...

That was a great shot, to capture the blue jay as it lost the peanut! And it is perfectly in focus too, amazing! So wonderful to watch nature in action, at its best for sure!

Natalia said...

They are so cute, love your pics ☺☺