Re: A Nice Surprise!

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.
 
Thanks for the reminder!
Brian 

A Nice Surprise!

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