A Winter Visitor

[nutmeg3]

I had six of these beauties in my yard this winter, though a neighbor's cat got one of them.

Comments

[edgeofthewoods]

Beautiful!

They do toss the feed all over the place, but they are so pretty to look at, and fun to watch in action!

[nutmeg3]

I actually have squirrel feeders and the birds get the leavings, and I don't think any bird could make as big a mess as the squirrels. I love them, but what slobs!

[kilpkonashka]

Such beautiful bird!!! ))

...and my cat also brought me birds sometime...ooh(

[nutmeg3]

Thank you. :-) My cats are indoor-only, but several neighbors let their cats out, and I think that must have been what got the one. All that was left was a ple of very identifiable feathers.

[jexia]

My 10 year old wanted a blue jay on his birthday cake. Don't know why, since we're in NZ and don't even have them here...

[nutmeg3]

How strange. Unless he meant a Toronto Blue Jay (baseball team), which seems more 10-year-old-boyish?

[jexia]

I don't think he's ever watched sport in his life, and baseball's not a "thing" over here! He does like birds.

[nutmeg3]

I love the cake! And I much prefer birds to baseball myself, so I think he's clearly a great kid. :-)

PS - LJ decided your comment was suspicious. I guess it's never seen a blue jay cake before. *g*

[buzziecat]

I love Blue jays. They come to feed at my window for the shelled and unshelled peanuts. Wow, they can go through a bag of peanuts in no time. I think they take and cache them. Smart birds.

I love cats but not losing birds to them. It's the fault of the cats' humans who are irresponsible.

[nutmeg3]

ITA. Where I live (suburban CT) it's become very unusual to see (pet) cats outdoors, and because they're such a huge threat to songbirds it amazes me that in other parts of the world it's still quite common.

[buzziecat]

Good that it's unusual for pet cats to be outside - for the safety of the birds and the cats. I picked up a cat, hit and killed by a car, and put it on the side of the road so it wouldn't be repeatedly run over. It had a collar with no tel number. Did its human wonder where it was and why it didn't come home? I also took a cat, hit by a truck and left in the middle of a busy avenue, to an animal hospital where it was euthanized due to its overwhelming injuries.(To be fair, some cats escape outside and their people are heartbroken about losing them.

There will always be people who rationalize that, "it's nature and the cat is doing what cats do." Destroying wildlife? Totally not necessary.

[cp]

Lovely shot! Bluejays are so handsome, it's a shame they're jerks. ;)

[nutmeg3]

Thank you. :-) These guys didn't bully the little birds as much as I expected, I think because with the winter as bad as it was, I threw seeds all over the deck, along with filling the feeders, so there was plenty for everyone.