Tag: Lifers

Friday’s Feathered Friends- Jays

Posted in birding, Birds of North America, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , , , , 31 Comments

Copyright ©2026 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

It’s been awhile since I shared any of the birds I’ve been seeing. As I mentioned I was overwhelmed getting my life list up to date after March’s Florida trip, and April’s Texas trip. Today, I’m sharing 3 North American Jays that I added to my Life List this year.

Some of you know how badly I’ve wanted to get a decent photo of the Blue Jay since I first saw one in FL in 2024. They seem to know when I’m in Florida and Ohio with my camera. They toyed with me…hiding in the foliage or giving me a brief look and flying away as soon as I lifted my camera. Well, in March I had two full days to bird with my friend Mary. I spied a Blue Jay and doggedly followed it for 20 minutes to get a photo that wasn’t blurry, or a butt shot.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
Blue Jay-showing only a bit of its beautiful markings, and there’s a dreaded branch right in front of its face. Sigh. I kept following it…
©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
Blue Jay- Finally, a decent photo of one!

On my last day of birding with Mary we saw four Florida Scrub-Jays and we thought two of them were banded. I don’t have any information about this Jay from the bands unfortunately. It was backlit so I had to do some masking to lighten up its face a bit.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com
Florida Scrub-Jay

While in Texas the bird I had hoped to be an easy one to see was the Green Jay. I got lucky and saw a few but, getting an image was tricky. I did get some at a World Birding Site. They set out feeding stations for the birds and the Green Jay flew in for some nibbles.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com Image

These three Jays take me to seeing 7/10 Jays of North America. I’ve seen the Blue Jay, California Scrub-Jay, Steller’s Jay, Pinyon Jay, Green Jay, the Florida Scrub-Jay, and the Woodhouse Scrub-Jay. Maybe one day I’ll see them all, but if not I’m so excited to see as many as I have.

It’s been an amazing birding year for me. My bird count for this year is 361 species. With any luck, I hope to pick up a couple more with fall and winter migration. I think this is going to be the best year of birding I had in my life.

I’m birding this morning with the group so will be late getting to your blogs and comments.

I hope everyone has a lovely week-end!

more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends- American Dippers

Posted in Backyard Birding, Bird Photography, Birding in Nevada, Fuji X-T3, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , 38 Comments

Copyright ©2021 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

I’ve been rather slow at telling you about several new to me birds that I’ve seen this year. There have been 5 so far this year.

The first one I saw was back in February. Yeah, I know. I love making the images, going out hiking, birding, etc., but processing the images and writing…not so much.

So, this bird I saw in February really made me do my happy dance… jumping for joy happy dance because I tried to find this bird several times over a couple of years while I lived in San Jose sans success. Just less than two years after moving to Nevada I found not one but a pair!! Here without further ado is the American Dipper.

They were gathering nesting material under an overpass and flying into a hole under it. Lighting conditions weren’t great. They were in the shadow of the bridge making it hard to get a good image of them. I opened up the shadows in post editing.

Th

This next image shows the white eyelid they have that you only see when they blink.

Finally, I got lucky and one flew out into the sunlight!

Fun Facts: Gleaned from allaboutbirds.org

  • The American Dipper chooses a nest site, invariably along a stream, that provides security from floods and predators. Availability of suitable nest sites appears to limit its populations.
  • To be able to survive in cold waters during the winter, the American Dipper has a low metabolic rate, extra oxygen-carrying capacity in its blood, and a thick coat of feathers.
  • Unlike most other songbirds, but similarly to ducks, the American Dipper molts its wing and tail feathers all at once in the late summer. The bird is flightless during this time.
  • The oldest American Dipper was over 8 years old, when it was recaptured and rereleased during a banding operation in South Dakota.

The American Dipper is North America’s only truly aquatic songbird. I’m so happy I finally saw them!

I hope you all have a great week-end!

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 22.4.1

more to come…