Brett & Tweets:

I live a few blocks SE of Ballard High School, near 8th & 60th. Your friend is probably feeding the same pair I saw at the time of the count. I have been watching WESJs since not too long after moving to Ballard 5 years ago. I believe that there have been other individuals (aside from the resident pair) in the area from time to time, judging from occasional sightings of at least 3 birds, with territorial interactions. I have only seen this in the past year. I don't know whether the 3rd birds were individuals passing through or whether they were part of another pair somewhere around here.
I often think that we don't need another corvid species in Seattle, but I love watching these guys - especially when they are in the yard or on the fence a few feet from the window.

Ruth Taylor
rutht at seanet.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Brett Wolfe <m_lincolnii at yahoo.com>
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, January 13, 2005 3:29 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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