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This past weekend we were up at my parents’ house preparing for an estate sale. Some of the neighbors were having a garage sale, so we decided to put out a few items. While we were hanging out hoping for people to show up we were being entertained by some young blue jays. I was obsessed with them because I thought they were sooooo cute. They seem to hang out in the trees and bushes in the yard in front of the house. As is my M.O., I didn’t think to take pictures or video them until it was almost too late. I didn’t want to get that close. There was one that just kept up the chatter. They were all so cute. There were three. They still had their little fluff. They will be gone the next time we are up there.
It seemed to me that they hadn’t quite learned the blue jay squawk yet, they were still chirping. When I first started watching them they were not squawking AT ALL. But as the day wore on, they would do it in between chirps. I wish I would have caught the constant chirping on video. I could not get enough of them.
Do you get to see baby birds in your area? What types?
Our cat is an indoor cat. She does not go outside. I honestly feel that cats should be able to go outside. There are so many fun things for cats to experience; butterflies, grass, fences, frogs, lizards, flowers, etc. They do belong outside, able to roam, but unfortunately there are also many dangers. In addition to believing that cats really should be allowed to go outside, I feel that people must take responsibility for their pet(s) and that can come with a heavy price tag. Neither my heart nor my wallet could afford having to fix my cat if one of those outside dangers were to injure her. In our neighborhood we have raccoons, opossums, dogs, cats, cars, and sometimes the worst danger of all . . . other people. Not everyone is an animal lover or they might not enjoy a kitty fertilizing their garden — understandable. So we keep our cat inside. She, like a lot of indoor animals, LOVES to sit by any open door or window. She can sit there for hours. She stares and sniffs, and sniffs and stares. She will often go from door to door as if patrolling her yard. My hubby and I feed birds and squirrels in our yard in hopes that they will serve as entertainment for the cat. We have learned that we are overly entertained by our yard animals too. As I have posted before, the animals often distract me when I am doing a Nia routine or working out.
My hubby and I also have animal protocol, if there is an animal in the yard and we are on our way out to the yard, we stop and wait for it to settle or be gone. If we are in the yard and one comes in we freeze and let it do what it is there to do then we proceed. We often will stop what we are doing (pause a DVD, pause our conversation, etc.) to watch the various critters that come to visit. They are very entertaining. They eat, they play, they drink, they take baths. It is all very fun to watch. They can be quite silly.
We used to have blue jays come with their babies every year. They must have nested in our neighbor’s yard, because one year he drastically trimmed the trees and the babies that visit now are not nearly as young as the ones we used to have. So I believe the birds are having their babies elsewhere and sometimes they come here to eat or bath, but they are not here over a period of months as they once were. It is interesting and very amusing watching “babies” learn new things.
I believe the video included in this post is a group of “baby” hummingbirds. They are either babies or they are adults new to our yard and they have not seen the “house” that we allow our cat to go outside in. The hummingbirds swarm around the house to see what exactly is the threat of the animal inside. It is quite entertaining. They did this just a few times and have since learned that she is no threat and they act as if she is not there. The squirrels often check her out though. They climb on the table and peer in at her. She just looks back at them, rarely does she rush at them. She knows she can’t get them, but I don’t think they are always so sure.
On this video you can hear the birds making their little chitter noise. I imagine them saying, “What is it doing? What is it? Can it eat us?”
I am working on learning a new Nia routine. After getting coffee this morning I sat down to listen to the music and bar it. I had done some work on some of the songs already, so I was continuing. I had opened up a slider because the morning was cool and I wanted to let some cool air in and let the cat enjoy the outside. As I was sitting there I started to hear a squirrel barking. I got up to look and I couldn’t see him, but I could hear him well enough I knew he was somewhere along the edge of the yard. I spotted him on our roof. I asked him why he was barking, but I was unable to understand his answer. He kept barking as he ran from one level to the next. Since he sounded so upset I was curious as to why. He sounded as if he was near so I looked again. He was on our roof where I couldn’t see him from the slider. He barked non-stop.
Being the well-trained squirrel sap that I am, I went outside to give them some peanuts and I cleaned the bird bath and filled it with water. I thought maybe he wanted peanuts and water. But he kept barking. I think he actually moved to a place where he could see me and he knew I could see him. He was barking for so long that I decided to video him.
This is him. He is on our neighbor’s roof.
After this he stopped. Maybe he just wanted me to put him on YouTube. Maybe he is not happy that the blue jays are eating the nuts. They usually share pretty well, but the only thing I can think of is that maybe the blue jays are a bit more aggressive than normal because yesterday I noticed they brought babies with them. I don’t know if you have ever experienced baby blue jays. At this point they are flying fine and have their balance so they are a few months old, but they still have that baby cry. They are so round and fluffy and look bigger than the adults. Yesterday one just stood on the table and cried for food. But the adult with him wanted him to fend for himself. But MAYBE this is what the squirrel was barking about today, but I dont’ know.
After he stopped barking he sat in the tree like this. Giving me some kind of “eye”; evil or squirrely you decide.
So, yeah, this is part of what I mean when I posted the post about workout distractions. I could ignore them, but often times they are making a ruckus for a reason and if they are doing it in our yard I like to try to figure out why. Eventually, I shut the door and closed the curtain so I could bar some more of the Nia music and get a Nia workout in. I wanted to show you more of the “distractions” from our yard. Silly squirrel.
We have recently had baby blue jays surface. For the most part I don’t even know they are there. When they do make noise it is hilarious. I can’t tell how many there are. I think there are at least two, maybe three, but at least one has a hilarious voice. It is not the squawk of a blue jay yet. I can’t even describe it, but it makes me laugh. Whatever I am doing I will stop to listen to him. It is so funny. I tried to record it today, but . . . I only have my iPhone and the baby stopped the second I pressed record. Then all the other birds started in and drowned out his little voice.
Anyway, it is Thursday, and I haven’t posted birds once this month so I thought I would share some baby pictures. The babies are deceptively large. At first, you don’t realize that the baby is the baby because he is so much bigger than the adults then it opens its mouth and makes this pathetic noise or it walks and has absolutely no grace.
So, please keep in mind I am not posting this pictures because they are good pictures and I wanted to share, I am posting them because they are our babies and I wanted to share.
Its a beautiful day in San Jose for this bird to sit by the water.
Do you see his brother (sister?) on the rock behind him?
I think the one on the rock is the one that is has the funny little voice. It is so funny.
Babies just stand different. They are still learning. It is so funny to watch them move.
I think the one on the rock still wants to be fed because he will open his wings and make his little noise. He “screams” at the top of his voice. But scream is a harsh word since it sounds so cute, but . . . you can tell it is a workout for him. He puts a lot of effort into it.
This past summer we were lucky enough to be the home to six baby blue jays (maybe more it was difficult to keep track). It was fun to watch them grow up. I think most of the six have gone, but I think one is still here. I think others visit because we put peanuts out for them. Since we live in San Jose, we have great weather and blue jays are always here.
It was fun to watch their different “personalities” or styles. One exercised great caution and care when it came to bath time, another one, as you will see below . . . .would get in there and just have a ball.
These are from August 28, 2008.
I actually think this one, is the one that would be very careful.
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