Subject: my first grey jay sighting
Date: Aug 21 14:42:05 2004
From: Rolan Nelson - rnbuffle at yahoo.com


Way to go, Melissa! -Rolan

Melissa Nelson <menelson2001 at hotmail.com> wrote:Dear Tweeters,

I was at the Hoh rainforest visitor center parking lot on Wed August 18th when I saw a bird I had never seen before. Now I must interject I was hoping to see some birds, but being with two year old and five year old boys that have not yet learned the fine art of silence I was not too hopeful. So while they were off with dad in the grass waiting for me to get lunch out of the car I had a chance to look around.

I saw these three grey birds with black on their heads. They were larger than robins and smaller than crows, and they had very distinct white tips on their tail feathers. Now I have never seen a picture of a grey jay so I had no idea what this bird was. I was thumbing through my Sibley book after they were gone and could not figure it out. I was getting a little frustrated, because I have such a hard time identifying birds and I had to finish getting the lunch stuff out the car for Jim and the kids. So away goes my book and out comes lunch. As we were eating they came back and I was able to observe them (in between attempts of keeping my two year olds peanut butter and jelly off of me and getting it into him). I noticed they were acting like crows, that got me to thinking and wondering if they might be in the crow family. When we got back to the car I looked in Sibley in the Corvidae section and sure enough there was the bird I saw. I was very excited because that is the !
first
time that I used a birds behavior to help identify it. I have been reading some books from the library about bird behavior and flight patterns so I have been watching those things in birds I recognize to see the differences.

Now I know this is not quite as exciting as discovering a rare bird. But for me it was a thrill to have read and learned and put into practice. It is the thrill of turning head knowledge into a life experience that I can share with my children. Also the thrill of adding a new bird to my life list.

I appreciate this forum for letting me share my new bird watching adventures and for helping me learn about birds and birding.

I know you understand my joy.

Melissa Nelson,
Edmonds, WA
menelson2001 at hotmail.com



Rolan Nelson
Fircrest, WA
rnbuffle at yahoo.com

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