Jays,Crows & Kin

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes


I am diving into my archives for this post which includes the Jays and Kin in the Corvidae family..Some photos of the Blue Jay are from my backyard and other shots are from my travels.

The two shots above are from my backyard. The Blue Jay is a regular year round visitor in  my yard.  It loves peanuts in and out of the shell. They are loud and always announce their presence on my deck. They are able to imitate a hawk sound so well it really fools me and my little birds.

The Stellar Jay was a common sight during our Washington State travels.. It has a sooty black head and crest, blue wings and tail.

Sorry, for the quality of this shot above but it is the only one I could find of the Gray Jay I was while traveling around Wyoming and Montana.  I need to do some checking on my back up files for a better shot of the Gray Jay. It is a beautiful bird, it is dark gray above and pale gray below. This Jay does NOT have a crest.

The Clark's Nutcracker was seen at Bryce National Park. This bird has a long bill, gray body with black wings.

 And the (Corvidae) Corvid family also includes the following

 The Common Raven has a heavy bill, long wings and tail. The Raven seems to be a more common sight in the western part of the USA.

These Ravens were seen in the Bryce Nat'l Park in Utah.

The Black-billed Magpie was a common bird seen in Yellowstone Nat'l Park. They were usually hanging around the parking lots. They have a black head and breast, white belly and an elegant long tail.

 The Corvid family includes a list of Crows. Above is the American Crow seen in my backyard. The American Crow is overall black, also has a heavy bill, broad wings shorter than the Raven. Somewhere I may have a shot of the Fish Crow seen during my travels.. I wish I had labeled my older photos, to save a lot of searching. 

I am missing a few or more Jays for my lifer list.. Some day it will be nice to see some of the other Jays like the: Brown Jay, Pinyon Jay, Mexican Jay and my favorite the Green Jay.  There are also three Scrub Jays: the Western Scrub Jay, Island Scrub Jay and one I have seen the Florida Scrub Jay. Did you know there were so many Jays?

Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

New Old birds

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

July 2, 2013

Can you believe it is July already?  I wish all the Canadian bloggers a HAPPY CANADA day. And on Thursday is our 4th of July celebration in the USA.

These are a few birds from my archives that I noticed I have not posted. I would like to do a post on each of my lifers, that way all my lifers appear on my blog. Another way I can keep track of my life birds. These birds were seen during a trip to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Magpie

Mountain Bluebirds

Clark's Nutcracker

Black-throated Sparrows. I am sure I have more lifers that I have not done a blog post about, it will take a little while to find the photos. How do you keep you life list? Is it on an Excel document? Do you keep a written journal?  I am looking for an easy way to keep a list list and have it numbered, any ideas?



I hope you enjoyed my variety of Wild Birds on this post.
Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your nice comments. I always appreciate your visits.
Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday and thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes.

I wish everyone a happy week ahead and Happy Birding!

Favorite Mt Hood Scenes

I am linking up up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday

These are some of my favorite scenes and shots of our to vacation. I have some shots of Mt Hood, Mirror Lake, some wildflowers, some of the birds were a Clarks Nutcracker and the Oregon Junco.

The Oregon Junco's seem to also be pretty common birds. This one looks to be feeding a juvie?

Timberline lodge plaque, Mt Hood, Clarks Nutcracker, Timberline Lodge, ski slope, skiers

Mirror Lake, large spruce trees and moss, wildflowers, bridge

Pretty reflection of Mt Hood on Mirror Lake.

The trail to Mirror lake. Along the trail I could hear various bird calls. I believe a common bird was the Veery. Edited: I was corrected about the Veery sounds, it was a Swainson Thrush I was hearing. Thanks Jen!

The Chestnut Chickadee a new lifer for me were everywhere we went. I could also hear and see the nuthatches.

To see more wonderful mosaics please visit Mary's Mosaic Monday  and to see photos and scenes from around the world at Our World Tuesday.
Thanks to Mary our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting gang at Our World: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia and Sandy.
Thank you for stopping by my blog and I wish everyone a HAPPY week ahead.