tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002156758794571993.post712552997015696510..comments2024-01-05T07:52:36.705-05:00Comments on Backyard Birding...And Beyond: JeremiadMargo D. Beller http://www.blogger.com/profile/11132733081191328601noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002156758794571993.post-5583390014521678952012-01-15T18:05:45.885-05:002012-01-15T18:05:45.885-05:00Hi Lavonne, and thanks for your comments. I am not...Hi Lavonne, and thanks for your comments. I am not sure why you are not getting the large number of blue jays of years past, but to use some of the knowledge I show off in my "How to Look Like an Expert" post of the other week (ha), I would guess that something went amuk in the ecosystem - maybe a predator scared them off, or a disease spread through or maybe the trees weren't offering enough berries or seeds to support such a large flock. The jays may also have been crowded out by other birds such as starlings, grackles or crows, which can form large flocks in winter and eat everything in sight. For your sake I hope they come back because jays can be very entertaining.Margo D. Beller https://www.blogger.com/profile/11132733081191328601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002156758794571993.post-30371081863092328252012-01-11T12:41:07.025-05:002012-01-11T12:41:07.025-05:00Hi Margo,
Nice pictures! I forgot you were a birde...Hi Margo,<br />Nice pictures! I forgot you were a birder. Maybe you can answer a question my kids and I were discussing the other day. When we first moved into our house in the late 1990s, we used to get huge flocks of bluejays that would land in the trees in our neighborhood (next to a nature preserve) They were really loud and colorful, can't remember what time of year it was, but we'd get dozens, maybe a hundred or more, all sitting and squaking in the top branches of our trees.<br />I haven't seen flocks like that in years, in fact we seem to get very few bluejays anymore. Is this some kind of cyclical thing? Why does this happen?Lavonnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03873204163582694853noreply@blogger.com