October 25, 2010. Double D Ranch, Texas. The Gray Jay.

He came to visit us every day on our deck in The Riding Mountain National Park. He was beautiful, rather like a chickadee on steroids with a bit of blue and gray added for color. I was forced to consult our Sibley bird book which we fortunately had carried with us. Keith and Wilma could not recognize the bird either. But I found it. A Taiga Gray Jay nicknamed a camp robber.

I was trying to entice the magpie onto our deck so Ken could take a picture. It also is a beautiful and colorful bird, also a bit cheeky. To attract the bird, I broke up bread and put it on the ledge of the deck. While we watched for the next thirty minutes, three different birds came to partake of our bread; a blue jay, a magpie and the gray jay. The first day it took thirty minutes before the birds visited us, and after that first time, the visits came immediately, almost as if they were watching for us. I would break up the bread, walk inside and close the door and turn around to see a bird.

Wilma was breaking up the bread the first day and the gray jay swooped down and stole it from her hand, just like that. I kept the bread pieces large, hoping they would be forced to stay and peck at the big chunks, but no such luck. Those three birds were big enough to carry off the whole chunk. Every morning and evening I put out the bread and every time these three birds came to entertain us and feed themselves. They never failed us. Ken never did get a picture of any of the birds. That Taiga Gray Jay was the prettiest bird I have seen for a long time. I wonder if they migrate?