My Jay Friends

The Blue Jay No brigadier throughout the year So civic as the jay. A neighbor and a warrior too, With shrill felicity Pursuing winds that censure us A February day, The brother of the universe Was never blown away. The snow and he are intimate; I 've often seen them play When heaven looked upon us all With such severity, I felt apology were due To an insulted sky, Whose pompous frown was nutriment To their temerity. The pillow of this daring head Is pungent evergreens; His larder -- terse and militant -- Unknown, refreshing things; His character a tonic, His future a dispute; Unfair an immortality That leaves this neighbor out. by Emily Dickinson

I am a Blue-Jay nut. I just love them. This fact probably says something about my personality, but I don't want to know what it is.

I love that they call out to their friends when they find food. We throw peanuts out on the deck to attract them. Usually within just a few minutes, we hear their call, "here, here!" But then they sit and wait in the trees until the coast is clear before they swoop down to pick up the peanuts and fly away with them. They come back and forth, and in no time all of the nuts are gone. They even chase the squirrels away, when they try to "steal" from them.

I call them my jay boys or little cadets -- they are just like stealthy soldiers after their bounty.

photos by my hubbie