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earthstar

~ a celebration of nature

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Tag Archives: Jay

A Jay day

05 Wednesday Feb 2025

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Garrulus glandarius, Jay

I was going to write about a different bird today but during this morning’s walk in central Cardiff I was approached by a young man who, on seeing me staring at a bush, camera in hand, very politely asked if I might know the name of the bird he’d just seen.

‘It was a bronzey pink with fluorescent blue in its wings. It looked amazing!’ The mention of bronze confused me but, when, together, we retraced his steps and spotted the bird, it was, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed, a Jay.

He had never seen one before, which surprised me, but we had a lovely conversation and I know he will be looking for more Jays during his daily walks from the student halls to the university buildings and back. And that makes me very happy!

Jays have proved very frequent, more confiding and visible during our recent cold weather, a treat I’ve thoroughly enjoyed and taken advantage of with my camera, so the photos here were taken over several days.

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Another day, another Jay

06 Tuesday Feb 2024

Posted by sconzani in birds

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, drawing of Jay, Jay, nature journal, nature journalling

I hesitated before deciding to share this but the truth is that the miserable weather means I’m struggling a little to find daily content for the blog so here we are. I’ve always kept a nature journal, recording my finds from my walks, but this year I’ve decided to challenge myself by illustrating my journal with at least one drawing each day. I initially thought I would draw flora and fauna but so far I’ve focused on birds, and I might just stick to birds this year, as there’s so much to learn – and this is certainly helping to hone my observation skills! As I’m a complete novice when it comes to drawing, I started out copying other people’s quite stylised drawings I found online, using just a black ballpoint. I’ve now progressed to drawing from photos, and using ballpoint and coloured pencils. I hope, eventually, to be able to sketch in the field, and perhaps use watercolours, but I’m just taking things slowly, not pushing myself too hard too soon.
All of which was to explain why today you are seeing my drawings of a Jay’s head! Apparently, you can teach an old dog new tricks.

240206 jay drawing

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A garrulous Jay?

05 Monday Feb 2024

Posted by sconzani in birds

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Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Garrulus glandarius, Jay

Is it any wonder the Jay’s scientific name is Garrulus glandarius? Garrulus is from the Latin garrire which means chattering, babbling or noisy, and that is, of course, where the adjective garrulous (meaning excessively talkative) also comes from. (The epithet glandarius is from Latin meaning ‘of acorns’.) The Jay often announces its presence by screeching like a Banshee but the gorgeous Jay in my photo was making much more gentle sounds, chortling quietly to itself, as if it had just heard a good joke. Garrulous, yes, but It was also quite delightful!

240205 jay

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J is for Jay

15 Friday Dec 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Garrulus glandarius, Jay, woodland birds

They can be quarrelsome and raucous, are known for stashing acorns as winter fodder, and have colourful plumage that might more usually be found on a tropical bird. The Jay’s scientific name (Garrulus glandarius) is so appropriate: the words are both Latin, Garrulus meaning babbling, noisy, chattering, and glandarius meaning ‘of acorns’.

231215 jay (1)

Jays have been plentiful this year in my local woodlands, which is wonderful. I’ve managed to get reasonable photos a few times, and have blogged about them twice, Two Jays on 20 April and, on 12 October, A Jay and its acorn.

231215 jay (2)

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A Jay and its acorn

12 Thursday Oct 2023

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, trees

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Jay, Jay and acorn, Oak

This morning I spent a lovely half hour watching two Jays flying back and forth from Oak trees to their nut-stashing places, secreting away plenty of goodies to tide them over the winter months.

231012 jay (1)

But, apparently, this particular acorn was so good it had to be eaten immediately.

231012 jay (2)

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Two Jays

20 Thursday Apr 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

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Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Jay

I was just leaving the local country park yesterday when these two Jays flew across my path and in to the trees and scrub behind the boundary fence.

Surprisingly, they weren’t bothered about my presence, continuing to flit about the branches and ferret about in the undergrowth. As they had a somewhat frantic air about them, I suspect they were searching for titbits to feed young ones nearby.

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J is for Jay

15 Wednesday Dec 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds

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Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Jay

I was tossing up between Jackdaw and Jay when I heard a Jay screeching during today’s walk in the woods and that clinched my choice for this letter. Jays haven’t featured much in this blog in 2021, though I did report on a feather with a tinge of blue found back in February, and have since found another of these exotic treasures, which is now glued to the relevant page of my nature journal. The vivid blue stripes always make me think of more tropical locations than these often gloomy isles.

211216 jay

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Feather: Jay

01 Monday Feb 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bird feathers, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Eurasian jay, feather, Jay, Jay feather

I could easily have overlooked this feather if, at the very moment I glanced down, the sun hadn’t shone through a fleeting break in the dense cloud cover and highlighted the tiny splodge of bright blue on one side below the white.

210201 jay feather (1)

Once I’d picked up the feather and looked closer, I also noticed the faint blue mottling at the other end of the white patch. That blue is an indisputable identification pointer – this is from a Jay, it’s one of the less vibrant and well marked of its wing feathers.

210201 jay feather (2)
210201 jay feather (3)

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20/366 Crispest

20 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, frost, Jay, nuthatch, Snipe

It was frosty white again this morning so, in the hope that the chilly temperatures might have lured the resident Snipe out of their hiding places in the reed beds, I headed to Forest Farm Nature Reserve for a meander. And I was lucky – though they were very distant, I managed to spot three Snipe. Full marks if you can actually see them in this photo.

200120 1 snipe

Of course, the cold temps also meant the birds were hungry and frantic to be fed. I took plenty of seed with me but many of the good folk who walk this reserve regularly had already covered fence post tops and feeding tables with food of various types. This Nuthatch was stocking up, taking away several seeds and nuts at a time to stash in nooks and crannies in nearby trees.

200120 3 nuthatch

Jays were also busy stashing. Birders were spraying the grass in front of the bird hide with peanuts, which at least two Jays were gathering and carting away to their local hiding places. Best to be prepared in case this chilly spell continues.

200120 2 jay

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312/365 Nuts

08 Friday Nov 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, jackdaw, Jay, Moorhen

Today was a glorious autumn day so I took myself to Forest Farm Nature Reserve for a long walk. I popped in to the hide to see what birds were around but it was very quiet.

191108 moorhens

Apart from a couple of Moorhens in the pond, the only feathered creatures I saw were these, a Jackdaw and a Jay that had been enticed down on to the grass in front of the hide by the peanuts another birder had thrown out for them.

191108 jackdaw191108 jay

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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