Sounds like the 5 counted are a "known" quantity and have been for a while. Be interesting to see where they start showing up next...maybe near Ravenna and the UW/Fill? Who knows?

Thanks Gene.

Brett

Eugene and Nancy Hunn <enhunn323 at comcast.net> wrote:
Brett, Tweeters,

Thanks for the post. We did count the Ballard pair (Ruth Taylor lives in Ballard and counted them for the CBC); also the long-established pair on Capitol Hill near the south end of the Arboretum, plus one in West Seattle, which might have a mate also. I don't know if they have nested successfully, but if so, we should expect further expansion. The first record for King County was of a bird that hung out in West Seattle for over a year, beginning 24 December 1977.

Gene Hunn.
----- Original Message -----
From: Brett Wolfe
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2005 3:27 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Western Scrub Jay - Ballard 1/13/2005 (long)


OK, I have wondered in past years if Western Scrub Jays were actually making some semblance of an actual population here in Seattle. I see postings every year or so about folks seeing one in Ballard, maybe Beacon Hill, perhaps the Rainier Valley. I have even seen one in Ballard about 4 years ago, near Market and 8th.

Well, I have a friend who lives a little east of Ballard High School. We were discussing birds one day a few weeks back and I brought up the fact that this was an irruption year for Blue Jays across the west. He mentioned that he had a "blue" jay(s) that had been coming to his yard on a near daily basis for years. I asked if it had a black head. He said that this was different because he gets those (Steller's Jays) too. I stumped him about the crest when I asked, and then I brought a guide over to his place last week and he decided that it was the Western Scrub Jay that he sees in his back yard and feeds peanuts to.

Today, I went over to his place and lucked out. One of the neighborhood crows flew up on his patio railing and so we went out to put some peanuts and dog food out for them, when we saw a Steller's Jay. And then right behind it sure enough came the Scrub. The Scrub is much more bold than the Steller's, which seems right from what I have observed of both species in the past. Over the next half hour or so, the Scrub came down and grabbed 6-7 peanuts and the Steller's grabbed maybe 3. Plus there were plenty of peanuts for the squirrels and crows too, as John feeds these guys everyday(he also has a Glaucous-winged Gull he has named "Archie" that has been coming around for about 3 years now). We got very good looks at the Scrub through my friends monocular, but you could see the white eye brows, the dark gray patch on the cheek, the white bib and the gray patch going under the wings and around the back, as well as the beautiful blue everywhere else even without! visual aid.

Anyway, my friend has been feeding these guys (the Western Scrub Jays) in his yard for at least 5, maybe as many as 10 years. He has seen two in his yard at the same time, even as recently as mid-December. Until he and I got to talking, he had no idea that this was a pretty rare bird for Seattle, and even if he had known, wouldn't have known who to tell. Shoot, John has known me for years and knows me as a birder, but had no clue he had a local rarity he was feeding daily, so it never came up. I also saw from the Seattle CBC count that was published here on tweeters that there were 5 Scrubs counted. I wonder how many there really are in Seattle, and how long it will be until Seattle is actually listed on the range maps in all the books? Certainly seems that there is a viable population building if they are staying here year-round and being seen year after year.

All in all, it was a real treat to get such great views of such a beautiful bird that most people don't see here in Seattle, and for so long. Good birding!

Brett A. Wolfe
Seattle, WA (Phinney Ridge)



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