Well, it’s a blue jay, actually. And it’s on the deck, but that’s quibbling. This is quite a rarity in these here parts. Throughout the year, we can expect to see dozens of house finches and millions of sparrows. In summer we have plenty of goldfinches gobbling up the nyger seed budget. Pine Siskins are occasional visitors throughout the year. On exceptionally cold winters, the redpolls come this far south, and recently chickadees have become more common. But this is the first year for consistent sightings of blue jays. Last year, Irene saw one once or twice, but they have been here consistently throughout the summer, fall, and early winter.

Having had very little experience with blue jays in the past, we were surprised by a couple of things:

• Their size: the adults are as big as a magpie (without the tail)
• The shyness: having had considerable exposure to whiskeyjacks (gray jays) and Stellar’s jays in the past, I was surprised at how skittish blue jays were. They tend to vamoose at the slightest sign of human presence. The pictures above were taken through the dining room and kitchen windows.
• Their voice: well, I wasn’t actually surprised as much as disappointed. Their call is every bit as melodic (gronnkkk!) as a stellar’s jay.