🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <37fab7f1.3784113@news.videotron.net>,
lynda_mccormick@hotmail.com wrote:

>Anyway, it's been really fun watching his antics over the past few
>months and I sure hope he sticks around this winter.

His escapades are hilarious, Lynda! I don't know where you live, but
bluejays generally migrate a few hundred miles south in the winter, and
the ones you'll see in January spent the summer a bit farther north. But
he'll be back in the spring.

--
---
Lanny Chambers, St. Louis, USA
http://www.hummingbirds.net/ - Most everything about hummers
http://www.website2Go.com/ - Instant Websites for Business

Thanks Lanny,
                      I've heard that Blue Jays do just that, migrate
about 100-200 miles south and that you get the ones further north in
winter, but last year my regulars were gone in September and since
they seem to be still around, (like this morning), that perhaps they
would stay.  I had Blue Jays over last winter, but only about 2 and I
didn't see them every day.  They ate inside the cedar hedge where I
feed the Cardinals, and not in the open platform feeder by the kitchen
door like my regulars.

                      I'm really gonna miss these characters if they
take off for the winter...geeez!

Maybe a constant fresh supply of peanuts may sway them..?

Lynda








On Tue, 05 Oct 1999 23:41:26 -0500, lanny@hummingbirds.net (Lanny
Chambers) wrote:

>In article <37fab7f1.3784113@news.videotron.net>,
>lynda_mccormick@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>>Anyway, it's been really fun watching his antics over the past few
>>months and I sure hope he sticks around this winter.
>
>His escapades are hilarious, Lynda! I don't know where you live, but
>bluejays generally migrate a few hundred miles south in the winter, and
>the ones you'll see in January spent the summer a bit farther north. But
>he'll be back in the spring.
>
>--
>---
>Lanny Chambers, St. Louis, USA
>http://www.hummingbirds.net/ - Most everything about hummers
>http://www.website2Go.com/ - Instant Websites for Business
>

What a great story Linda!  Amazing what you see when you actually -look-
isn't it?

I don't have any crazy jays around my house but do have a question.
What's the blue jay doing when he has three peanuts before him and picks
each one up, turns it a little and puts it back down before deciding on
one to carry off?

Anyone know?

--
Gloria:  "And on the Fifth Day God Created Birds"  nuff said!
Gus:  "I Can Talk ... Can You Fly?"

I have to ask!  Are you Greg or are you RW?  Somebody wrote to me
regarding my bird photos and the sig said "greg scott" but wasn't sure
if that was a technical sig or if it was actually Greg signing.

Who's the father, Greg or RW?  I'm going crazy trying to figure this
out!

"Gregory J. Scott" wrote:

> What a wonderful story! Thanks for writing it down.

--
Gloria:  "And on the Fifth Day God Created Birds"  nuff said!
Gus:  "I Can Talk ... Can You Fly?"

There's no accounting for what goes on in their minds.

My scrub jay would pick up each peanut and shake it before deciding
which one to take. Of course, he came back and got them all so it's
hard to explain why he would want to take them in any particular order.

All this hiding peanuts business is hard wired into their head. Just
like a Labrador Retreiver is hard wired to chase balls.

The other day I had a visitor on the back porch and the scrubber kept
bothering me while I was talking. So I put his jar of peanuts on the
table so he could quietly carry them off without bugging me for more.

But I forgot about his jar, and next morning I noticed that he had
carried off about a  pint and a half of peanuts. Enough to feed him for
weeks.

But the crows come and get them anyway. About four or five crows set up
a line and go across the yard. They seem to know where to look for the
scrubber's peanuts. They remind me of a line of GI's policing up
cigarette butts.

I feed the crows dog biscuits. Usually they carry them away, but last
week a young crow took one and hid it. Much like a scrubber would, but
he was more careful to mark the spot.

Scrubbers seldom mark the spot, but they have an algorithm on their
hiding. They hide in relatinship to other objects.


On October 06 1999, Old Hen <gheim@us.ibm.com> wrote:
> What a great story Linda!  Amazing what you see when you actually
> -look- isn't it?
>
> I don't have any crazy jays around my house but do have a question.
> What's the blue jay doing when he has three peanuts before him and
> picks each one up, turns it a little and puts it back down before
> deciding on one to carry off?
>
> Anyone know?

I'm Greg Scott. My dad doen't like computers, and is generally not on the
internet.
I've convinced him to let me publish his photos on my website, and they
certainly get more of an audience than my own. I'm also interested in bird
photography, but you have to think in terms of a 20 year plan, here. I have
had a window platform feeder for about 1 1/2  years, and have had hummers
coming to my hummer feeders since late summer this year. I began planting
bird attracting plants in my yard this summer, with varied success. I plan
to spend about $500 per year on the planting over the next several years.
Cardinal vine was the best success of the year. Very low cost and good
result. I took my first bird photos this year. I have a perched ruby throat
at my feeder at my main home page. I first began hobby photorograph when I
was about 20, and dropped it and sold all my equipment when I was a little
older with wife and kids to support. About 1 1/2 years ago I decided to buy
a 35 mm SLR camera, and I still have an old 2 1/4 square (medium format)
Mamiyaflex TLR. I would like to buy a good medium format camera, a long
macro lens (maybe 200 mm) and a very good flash, short term, and also a long
mscro lens for the 35mm camera. In the longer run I would like to add high
speed, high output flash, perhaps custom built, with motor drives,
electronic triggers, etc. The hangup is money and time. Total rig including
flash, as I have described it would be from $5,000 to $20,000 depending on
how many corners get cut. I am a computer programmer, and live in Atlanta
Georgia.

My Dad is R. W. Scott, and he lives in Ohio. He's a retired mechanical
engineer. He was in fighter pilot training just at the end of WWII, and
worked most of his career for General Electric, mostly with testing and "R &
D" for jet engines. He owns a custom flash built by a now retired electric
engineer, and has been an avid outdoorsman as a backpacker and canoeist and
now as a bird photographer. I think that he's near 70 years old, now.

Sometimes I echo information that I've heard from him on this newsgroup, and
sometimes the opinions are my own, but we agree on many of the topics. I
also am his point of contact on the web. When people email me compliments on
his photos, I forward them to him. There are several people interested in
publishing his work in books, etc, but he doesn't have enough first quality
photos to fill an entire book. It takes a long time and a lot of money to
shoot more. His birds in flight photos, however, are some of the best, and
certainly some of the best published on the web. He's not interested in
selling prints, generally.

I consider publishing his work a way I can fulfill the biblical commandment
to honor my father. I put my dads photos into a screensaver, which he gave
to many of his friends. I think that he appreciated that the most. I would
like to do the same by publishing some of my Mother's art on my website
also. Not as much of her work is avian, but she has some wonderful birds
carved in soapstone, for example, and a wonderful wood block print of a
great blue heron printed on rice paper. She had feeds chickadees, mainly,
but also other birds, sometimes, and has been a wildlife rehabilitator. She
teaches her dog to be kind to the "babies", and has successfully raised a
skunk in a suburban setting, and yet returned it to the wild after proper
training. It's also very gratifying to me, myself, to show my Dad's work to
the world, and I would like to do the same with my mom, as I said.
---------------
You're invited to visit my website, including the "Birds in Flight"
photographs by R. W. Scott.
The location is: http://www.gregscott.com
I've got downloadable screen savers of these images, for sale.
I also give these free to schools.
I give everyone permission to use any photo there for a windows wallpaper.

Old Hen wrote in message <37FB6F42.8C11DC7@us.ibm.com>...
>I have to ask!  Are you Greg or are you RW?  Somebody wrote to me
>regarding my bird photos and the sig said "greg scott" but wasn't sure
>if that was a technical sig or if it was actually Greg signing.
>
>Who's the father, Greg or RW?  I'm going crazy trying to figure this
>out!
>
>"Gregory J. Scott" wrote:
>
>> What a wonderful story! Thanks for writing it down.
>
>--
>Gloria:  "And on the Fifth Day God Created Birds"  nuff said!
>Gus:  "I Can Talk ... Can You Fly?"
>
>

What a wonderful story! Thanks for writing it down.

Hi Gloria,
              Most of the regulars do this.  However, some of the
shyer Jays simply come in, grab the first nut they can get their beaks
on and take off like a bat outta Hell!

              I've been watching and wondering about this nut
selection thing for months and all I can come up with is that they
must be fitting the nut to their beaks for easy transportation, it
must have at least 2 nuts in the shell if possible as well.  I've seen
them toss small single nut shells over the edge more then once.  I've
also noticed that they can tell from a distance if a shell is full, my
neighbor and I tossed a few empty shells that looked full onto the
grass one day last weekend, there was a continuous stream of Jays
coming in all day and quite a few sitting in the trees waiting their
turn at the platform feeder.  Anyhow, even though those shells looked
full, they ignored them entirely.  So we tossed out full ones and low
and behold, they immediately swooped down and gathered them up.   I've
also read that they weigh them.  Someone tried and experiement where
they emptied the shells and stuffed them with peanut butter and closed
them up again,  The Jays came in, picked up each one, weighed it and
took only the ones with whole nuts inside.

I have one Jay that can never make up his or her mind.  He takes ages
to select a nut, weighing each one, about 4 minutes at least.  He
picks up one after another, finally selects one, takes off to the
cedar hedge, sits there a minute with the nut in his mouth, then flies
back to the feeder, places the nut back in the pile, then takes
another one flies to the cedars, sits another minute or two, takes
that one back, selects another.  This can go on for 15 minutes before
he actually flies off with a nut.  My husband usually calls out that
"Fuss Pot" is here again and we both watch him muttering "Well aren't
WE fussy!"...doesn't help, just like my daughter he pays us no
mind...;)

Lynda











On Wed, 06 Oct 1999 11:45:47 -0400, Old Hen <gheim@us.ibm.com> wrote:

>What a great story Linda!  Amazing what you see when you actually -look-
>isn't it?
>
>I don't have any crazy jays around my house but do have a question.
>What's the blue jay doing when he has three peanuts before him and picks
>each one up, turns it a little and puts it back down before deciding on
>one to carry off?
>
>Anyone know?
>
>--
>Gloria:  "And on the Fifth Day God Created Birds"  nuff said!
>Gus:  "I Can Talk ... Can You Fly?"
>
>

I have at least a dozen Crows in my immediate area, but they only seem
to be able to land in my backyard.  The side yard on the south area of
my house is where the Jays come in for nuts and the area is pretty
over grown with high hedges, trees shrubs etc.  There is really no
clear landing path.  The Crows of course know this and Caw constantly
from the tops of the trees or light post at the end of the diveway.
They even swormed over the top of my house as if they'd really love to
dive bomb when I'm filling the feeders.

A number of times we've seen the Crows take off after a Jay with a nut
and a fairly hot persuit results.  The Grackles take peanuts from time
to time, but I've actually seen them take them over to the Grass, hop
on a curb stone and watch the crows come in for it.  As I've said
before, I;m possitive that the grackles are paying the Crows
protection fees...;)

One thing I've learned though, is that once you start this "Lord of
the Nuts" relationship with Blue Jays, that you'd best find a good
supplier, because when you run out, they won't stop bugging you until
you get more...

You can get lots of chestnuts here at the grocery stores in December
and since I've read that Chestnuts is REALLY their favorite food, this
December I plant to spurge for a nice big bag of them, (of course
saving some to roast in the fireplace for myself too...;))

Lynda









On 6 Oct 1999 16:24:45 GMT, elfox2504@my-Deja.com (Richard P. Talley)
wrote:

>There's no accounting for what goes on in their minds.
>
>My scrub jay would pick up each peanut and shake it before deciding
>which one to take. Of course, he came back and got them all so it's
>hard to explain why he would want to take them in any particular order.
>
>All this hiding peanuts business is hard wired into their head. Just
>like a Labrador Retreiver is hard wired to chase balls.
>
>The other day I had a visitor on the back porch and the scrubber kept
>bothering me while I was talking. So I put his jar of peanuts on the
>table so he could quietly carry them off without bugging me for more.
>
>But I forgot about his jar, and next morning I noticed that he had
>carried off about a  pint and a half of peanuts. Enough to feed him for
>weeks.
>
>But the crows come and get them anyway. About four or five crows set up
>a line and go across the yard. They seem to know where to look for the
>scrubber's peanuts. They remind me of a line of GI's policing up
>cigarette butts.
>
>I feed the crows dog biscuits. Usually they carry them away, but last
>week a young crow took one and hid it. Much like a scrubber would, but
>he was more careful to mark the spot.
>
>Scrubbers seldom mark the spot, but they have an algorithm on their
>hiding. They hide in relatinship to other objects.
>
>
>On October 06 1999, Old Hen <gheim@us.ibm.com> wrote:
>> What a great story Linda!  Amazing what you see when you actually
>> -look- isn't it?
>>
>> I don't have any crazy jays around my house but do have a question.
>> What's the blue jay doing when he has three peanuts before him and
>> picks each one up, turns it a little and puts it back down before
>> deciding on one to carry off?
>>
>> Anyone know?
>
>

Boy isn't *that* the truth!

"Richard P. Talley" wrote:

> There's no accounting for what goes on in their minds.
>
> (snip rest)
>

--
Gloria:  "And on the Fifth Day God Created Birds"  nuff said!
Gus:  "I Can Talk ... Can You Fly?"

We have a sunroom off our kitchen that we sit in and watch the birds at
the feeders.  I started putting a couple of peanuts out on the railing
of our deck for the blue jays.  Now, if there's no peanuts out there,
the Blue Jays will sit on a low branch of one of the trees and look into
the sunroom and squawk continuously until one of us puts a peanut out.
Then he'll swoop right down and take it.  I've also noticed that they
recognize the sound of our back door!  We love them!!

Melanie


lynda_mccormick@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> Hi Gloria,
>               Most of the regulars do this.  However, some of the
> shyer Jays simply come in, grab the first nut they can get their beaks
> on and take off like a bat outta Hell!
>
>               I've been watching and wondering about this nut
> selection thing for months and all I can come up with is that they
> must be fitting the nut to their beaks for easy transportation, it
> must have at least 2 nuts in the shell if possible as well.  I've seen
> them toss small single nut shells over the edge more then once.  I've
> also noticed that they can tell from a distance if a shell is full, my
> neighbor and I tossed a few empty shells that looked full onto the
> grass one day last weekend, there was a continuous stream of Jays
> coming in all day and quite a few sitting in the trees waiting their
> turn at the platform feeder.  Anyhow, even though those shells looked
> full, they ignored them entirely.  So we tossed out full ones and low
> and behold, they immediately swooped down and gathered them up.   I've
> also read that they weigh them.  Someone tried and experiement where
> they emptied the shells and stuffed them with peanut butter and closed
> them up again,  The Jays came in, picked up each one, weighed it and
> took only the ones with whole nuts inside.
>
> I have one Jay that can never make up his or her mind.  He takes ages
> to select a nut, weighing each one, about 4 minutes at least.  He
> picks up one after another, finally selects one, takes off to the
> cedar hedge, sits there a minute with the nut in his mouth, then flies
> back to the feeder, places the nut back in the pile, then takes
> another one flies to the cedars, sits another minute or two, takes
> that one back, selects another.  This can go on for 15 minutes before
> he actually flies off with a nut.  My husband usually calls out that
> "Fuss Pot" is here again and we both watch him muttering "Well aren't
> WE fussy!"...doesn't help, just like my daughter he pays us no
> mind...;)
>
> Lynda
>
> On Wed, 06 Oct 1999 11:45:47 -0400, Old Hen <gheim@us.ibm.com> wrote:
>
> >What a great story Linda!  Amazing what you see when you actually -look-
> >isn't it?
> >
> >I don't have any crazy jays around my house but do have a question.
> >What's the blue jay doing when he has three peanuts before him and picks
> >each one up, turns it a little and puts it back down before deciding on
> >one to carry off?
> >
> >Anyone know?
> >
> >--
> >Gloria:  "And on the Fifth Day God Created Birds"  nuff said!
> >Gus:  "I Can Talk ... Can You Fly?"
> >
> >

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Before you buy.

Hi Melanie,
                 Sounds very much like what goes on around here.
Yesterday I woke up to a chorus of Blue Jay 'yelling'.  I had put out
about 30 or so peanuts before going to bed and I guess they ran out.
I don't know how these guys did it, but they've figured out which room
is my bedroom and had flown around to the east side of the house to
yell at me through the open screen from the tree limb closest to my
window.

                 Last year I had noticed that they'd show up on the
window sills and peer in at me when the nuts were gone and I had a
feeling that they cased the joint to find out which room I was in.
Now I'm sure of it!

                  I love them, but I'm afraid they've now really
gotten on my Siamese cat's nerves.  He hopped up onto the window sill
in my bedroom and howled back at them.  He was very annoyed...;)
er...

So was I, between the cat and Blue Jays I ended up getting up way
before I wanted to...

Lynda








On Fri, 08 Oct 1999 20:54:08 GMT, Melanie Thomson
<byleveld@idirect.com> wrote:

>We have a sunroom off our kitchen that we sit in and watch the birds at
>the feeders.  I started putting a couple of peanuts out on the railing
>of our deck for the blue jays.  Now, if there's no peanuts out there,
>the Blue Jays will sit on a low branch of one of the trees and look into
>the sunroom and squawk continuously until one of us puts a peanut out.
>Then he'll swoop right down and take it.  I've also noticed that they
>recognize the sound of our back door!  We love them!!
>
>Melanie
>
>
>lynda_mccormick@hotmail.com wrote:
>>
>> Hi Gloria,
>>               Most of the regulars do this.  However, some of the
>> shyer Jays simply come in, grab the first nut they can get their beaks
>> on and take off like a bat outta Hell!
>>
>>               I've been watching and wondering about this nut
>> selection thing for months and all I can come up with is that they
>> must be fitting the nut to their beaks for easy transportation, it
>> must have at least 2 nuts in the shell if possible as well.  I've seen
>> them toss small single nut shells over the edge more then once.  I've
>> also noticed that they can tell from a distance if a shell is full, my
>> neighbor and I tossed a few empty shells that looked full onto the
>> grass one day last weekend, there was a continuous stream of Jays
>> coming in all day and quite a few sitting in the trees waiting their
>> turn at the platform feeder.  Anyhow, even though those shells looked
>> full, they ignored them entirely.  So we tossed out full ones and low
>> and behold, they immediately swooped down and gathered them up.   I've
>> also read that they weigh them.  Someone tried and experiement where
>> they emptied the shells and stuffed them with peanut butter and closed
>> them up again,  The Jays came in, picked up each one, weighed it and
>> took only the ones with whole nuts inside.
>>
>> I have one Jay that can never make up his or her mind.  He takes ages
>> to select a nut, weighing each one, about 4 minutes at least.  He
>> picks up one after another, finally selects one, takes off to the
>> cedar hedge, sits there a minute with the nut in his mouth, then flies
>> back to the feeder, places the nut back in the pile, then takes
>> another one flies to the cedars, sits another minute or two, takes
>> that one back, selects another.  This can go on for 15 minutes before
>> he actually flies off with a nut.  My husband usually calls out that
>> "Fuss Pot" is here again and we both watch him muttering "Well aren't
>> WE fussy!"...doesn't help, just like my daughter he pays us no
>> mind...;)
>>
>> Lynda
>>
>> On Wed, 06 Oct 1999 11:45:47 -0400, Old Hen <gheim@us.ibm.com> wrote:
>>
>> >What a great story Linda!  Amazing what you see when you actually -look-
>> >isn't it?
>> >
>> >I don't have any crazy jays around my house but do have a question.
>> >What's the blue jay doing when he has three peanuts before him and picks
>> >each one up, turns it a little and puts it back down before deciding on
>> >one to carry off?
>> >
>> >Anyone know?
>> >
>> >--
>> >Gloria:  "And on the Fifth Day God Created Birds"  nuff said!
>> >Gus:  "I Can Talk ... Can You Fly?"
>> >
>> >