Suspect this bird comes through more regularly during their Fall migration than I’m aware. But, unless making its varied, chattering call, I rarely see it.
Just had a Yellow-breasted Chat come through, working its way through the understory of willow bushes. Its larger size, olive back & bright yellow breast in the sunlight, caught my eye. Completely silent as it came through. Down to just occasional singles of Fall migrants now.
That behavior wouldn’t surprise me. This summer I put out a jelly cup for the Orioles, and had Chickadees, Finches, and even a Robin all coming in for a snack. That got me to wondering on how many other birds might utilize those resources. In past years I’ve also seen a Song Sparrow doing the same thing. Also, the Orioles, especially the juveniles, would attack the hummer feeder trying to get the nectar out.
Correct, haven’t seen a California Scrub Jay in E ID. So, this one was a Woodhouse’s Jay. That’s my bad. Knew they had been officially split, but I always called the interior version “Western” & the other “California”, before the official designation. That was fault of my old ornithology prof, those were his designations. He predicted the “Western” would eventually be split, long before it became official.
Heard a sound that I hadn’t noted for a long while. Looked out in time to get binocs on a Western Scrub Jay at the feeder. Had to convince myself what I was seeing & get all the field marks. Visited the sunflower seeds twice before exiting into the river bottoms. Looked it up in my ID Bird Distribution &, sure enough, transient for my latilong. Will keep eyes & ears open to see if any others appear. Think weather to our south may have shifted this one north, a bit.
Brian Carrigan
Blackfoot
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