My friend Marcie from Louisiana has kindly been sharing pictures with my boys and me of a blue jay who has been calling her yard home. I asked for her permission to share them here with you all, because they are truly amazing!
Back in June, Marcie's family rescued 3-week old "Dexter" (as he came to be known) from the mouth of a cat! They cared for him, fed him (mealworms are a favorite you can see) and he continued to come to them, becoming quite tame. Here he is on Marcie's arm (having just vacated the top of her head):
Even more recently Marcie sent me pictures of Dexter molting and I gasped with surprise when I saw these:
What a look! Have you ever seen a blue jay looking like this?
The funny thing is, we have a blue jay in our yard these days that has the exact kind of oddly-shaped head. We didn't know what was going on with the poor fellow! We were afraid he might be ill or had been attacked. We got to calling him Turkey Head because we thought he looked (in shape) somewhat like a turkey vulture, lol. We were glad to learn he is only molting! How extraordinary that we both have unusually molting jays in our yards this summer, a thousand miles apart!
Of course Marcie's family is on much more familiar terms with their jay than we are with ours! We do enjoy watching the ones who visit our yard, though, and recently several of them saved a red squirrel from an enormous hawk! Bookworm watched it happen - the jays mobbed the descending raptor, squawking and rushing at him relentlessly. He finally gave up and the little red squirrel was able to make a safe escape. The birds kept up their alarm for almost a half an hour!
I now have a soft spot in my heart for blue jays - in light of their recent heroics, and especially now that I've had the pleasure of getting to know Dexter.
Marcie tells me these days Dexter is more wild than tame, visiting their feeders less and less, though he does call to them when he arrives.
Here he is with his new feathers coming in:
And a final picture of Dexter, looking dapper at last:
Marcie's photographs are amazing, arent' they? You might remember that her photos are the ones that bring my Field Days alive. Which reminds me ... it's been a long while since I've run a Field Day, hasn't it? Hmmm, stay tuned for an announcement before (hopefully) too long. :)
In the meantime, thanks to Marcie for sharing these awesome photos and such a great story with us! And thanks, as always, to you all for stopping by. And if you pass a blue jay in your travels today, tip your hat to this delightful - and dapper - songbird!
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