When I was around four, we moved to a house my father had built on the edge of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The forest began behind us, our lot barely cleared. I don’t think, in the back yard, we ever developed a lawn. The back yard was big, to me anyway: I seldom reached its edge.<\/p>\n
The first birds I recall are blue jays, because they were always there, winter or summer. We saw them daily, and heard them — they dominated that yard to the extent that you might say it was theirs<\/em>, rather than ours. I think we put out bird seed for them. Their vivid blue colouring never got old; perhaps to a kid especially, they were wonderful to see all the time.<\/p>\n We moved from there to PEI, where blue jays also lived. However, I saw them less in PEI. After that, in the Annapolis Valley, they were also around, but not near so apparent as at the edge of Dartmouth in 1975.<\/p>\n In 1983 we moved to Newfoundland, where a different jay appeared: the gray jay, aka Canada jay.<\/p>\n Interestingly, blue jays, at least in theory, lived around us in Newfoundland, but I can’t recall seeing any. The gray jay I didn’t see either – until I was in the woods. You seldom had to go far from pavement before one would present. To my memory, the gray jay was always quiet. It would approach closer than a blue jay would. Moreover, the gray jay’s colouring is much less catchy than the blue’s. You’d notice it because of its size and its closeness.<\/p>\n Here, on the east coast of Vancouver Island, we haven’t either of those jays. We have the extroverted (and eponymous) Steller’s jay, which I’ve mentioned in a couple of posts (here<\/a> and here<\/a>). Although they live here year-round, they can move around a lot. I see them in fall and spring, typically, but haven’t encountered one for months. I’m sure they’ll be back:)<\/p>\n Source:<\/p>\n Hoar, De Smet et al. Birds of Canada<\/em>. Edmonton: Lone Pine Publishing, 2010.<\/p>\n allaboutbirds.org<\/a><\/p>\n allaboutbirds.org<\/a><\/p>\nJack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane,<\/a> Campbell River, BC.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Self-tutoring about birds: the tutor discusses jays in Canada. When I was around four, we moved …<\/p>\n