2024 is turning out to be a banner year for blue jays, at least as I’m seeing and hearing them on my outings in Mercer County, New Jersey.
Each time I look out the back windows at home, it seems two or three blue jays are flying up to our feeders or streaking by the windows.
At the Mercer Meadows Pole farm in recent weeks, the jays usually top my tallies, even as gray catbirds vie for numerical supremacy on any given day. Yesterday, I listed 14 blue jays in my e-Bird count, and I followed today with 10. Those probably are undercounts, I think each time I push “submit” on a checklist.
I went into to Princeton yesterday afternoon to the Millstone River Impoundment, and the first bird I heard as I stepped out of the car was a blue jay. I recorded six on what was a quiet 45-minute visit. I saw more blue jays than eight other species, although there were 10 Canada geese out on the water. Their numbers are building, too.
For as many blue jays as I see and hear, I have relatively few photos of them. That’s partially attributable to an attitude that the birds are so common, I don’t got out of my way to shoot them.
More likely, though, is that they tend to perch briefly near the tops of the tallest trees and often are obscured by leaves. The leaves are starting to fall, so I’ll likely get better looks in the coming weeks.
I’ve topped this post with a blue jay photo from May, when one of them stopped in nice light atop a snapped-off tree. I didn’t hesitate to snap off a shot! 🦅
The Jersey Birder 
Jays are such beautiful birds. Glad one posed for you back in May. Maybe they’re less charismatic because they’re so loud and squawky, and tend to throw their weight around a bit. 😃 But I’ll take them over starlings any day!
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Totally agree re starlings! And the blue jays are truly beautiful. If I lived on another continent, I’d come here hoping to see one.
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