Have You Ever Found A Pinyon Jay?

One of the things I've wanted to do the last several times I was in western Colorado visiting family is to find Pinyon Jays.

Now, Pinyon Jays are not the easiest bird to find. When I lived in Montrose, some folks had seen my postings and come to my house to see the birds as at that time they were visiting my feeders daily. However, one lady wouldn't come into the house, despite my nearly begging her to do so, and the birds never made an appearance. That is, until they were at the end of my 1/4 mile driveway, heading back east.

But these birds made it easy for us. We headed out to drive along the edge of my dads housing development, where the pinyon trees are.

Expecting to be out for 1-2 hours, we heard the birds before we ever left the subdivision! Within 15 minutes we had our PJ's. They were visiting a yard with nearly empty feeders and using the Cottonwood tree shown here as a staging area. There were at least 65 birds.

And now, I hope you enjoy this wobbly video that captures the unique sound of one of my favorite Corvids.

My Dad's Place, Cedaredge, CO.

My sister Lauren Burke and I went over to visit my dad this past weekend. He lives in Cedaredge which sits in the shadow of Grand Mesa, the largest geologic formation in the world, located in western Colorado.If you look closely at this photo of his backyard you can see the Mesa lit up in the morning sun.


We spruced up dad's feeding station a tiny bit and enjoyed the bounty of birds. Here is a picture of a "Cassiar" Junco.
A local 4 point buck wandering the neighborhood.The "tidbits" or Bushtits that visit were so entertaining! Here is one on the ground, using it's foot to hold a seed like a parrot. They were quite tame and never stopped talking.
At times they cover the suet so densely you cannot see it.
I think we came up with a total of around 14 Bushtits. It's tough to count them!
Coming up: Pinyon Jays - Jewel of the west.