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On Oct. 31st I noticed the first GRAY JAY I've ever seen at our farm in Colchester county (Mill Brook). The farm is surrounded by heavily cut-over forest on all sides, leaving mostly scattered hardwoods with a few young softwoods. Not typical Gray Jay habitat for sure. On Nov. 2nd I counted five birds exploring around the farm, despite the nearest woods being at least 250 meters away. I never saw them again. A roving flock for sure. Brian Dalzell Tatamagouche, NS ----- Original Message ----- From: "Laviolette, Lance (EXP)" <lance.laviolette@lmco.com> To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 3:38 PM Subject: RE: [NatureNS] size of corvid flocks > Hi Paul, > > That is a very impressive number of Gray Jays you encountered! I've seen > family groups of a half dozen or so at the most. The literature that > I've read does suggest that very occasionally there are large > movements/migrations of Gray Jays in some parts of their ranges but > there is little specific to this species in Nova Scotia. However as > usual, Robbie Tufts comes through stating in his book: "... it does on > rare occasions gather into flocks that wander aimlessly about the > countryside, showing up in places where it has not been seen in years." > Gray Jays are essentially non-migratory and occupy the same territories > throughout their lifetime so I expect these are foraging groups made up > of young birds for the most part. Has anyone else observed such large > numbers of Gray Jays in the Province either this year or in the past? > > All the best, > > Lance > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca >> [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Paul MacDonald >> Sent: January 9, 2007 2:25 PM >> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca >> Subject: RE: [NatureNS] size of corvid flocks >> >> Hi Lance and All >> This past fall I encountered a loose flock of grey jays. As >> it was in thick woods, it was hard to estimate the number but >> 50 was probably in the ball park. They were probably >> migrating as they were not there any more in the next few days. >> Have a nice winter >> Paul >> >> --- "Laviolette, Lance (EXP)" >> <lance.laviolette@lmco.com> wrote: >> >> > Hi Brian and others, >> > >> > A few notes on fall and winter concentrations of Blue Jays and >> > corvids. >> > When I was living at Greenwich in the Valley and feeding birds, I >> > would 'see' concentrations of one to two dozen Blue Jays. >> > However, through a >> > small banding study I did, I know that there were many more >> Blue Jays >> > coming to the feeders over the course of the winter than I >> would have >> > thought without the banding. It also showed that in spite of the >> > abundant food source I had set out, at least some of the >> Blue Jays I >> > was feeding were also ranging kilometres away to the >> Wolfville area to >> > visit other feeders during that winter. >> > >> > Regarding Blue Jay migration at Brier Island, autumn flocks >> can be in >> > the order of many hundreds or more at times. This is >> nothing compared >> > to the numbers that occur at the winter roosts of American >> Crows. The >> > 'traditional' roost, whose numbers are included in the Wolfville >> > Christmas count, can be in excess of 20,000. >> > >> > All the best, >> > >> > Lance >> > >> > >> > From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca >> > [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Brian Bartlett >> > Sent: January 6, 2007 6:43 PM >> > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca >> > Subject: [NatureNS] size >> > ________________________________ >> > >> > of corvid flocks >> > >> > >> > Here in West End Halifax I find it's common to see Blue >> Jays alone or >> > in pairs, and even more often to hear them, but less common to see >> > them in larger groups -- such as half a dozen close >> together I saw a >> > few days ago, without binoculars so I couldn't tell if >> there was a mix >> > of adults and juveniles. While I've had so little luck with >> backyard >> > feeders that I've given up on them (having two outdoor cats is no >> > help), I wonder if those with feeders are accustomed to >> seeing larger >> > groups of Blue Jays. I've read that all members of the >> Corvid family >> > gather at least in small groups, but I'm wondering how >> large groups of >> > Blue Jays get. Surely nothing like mobs of Crows -- but how much >> > larger than 1/2 dozen? >> > Thanks for any observations. >> > Brian >> > >> > >> >> >> __________________________________________________ >> Do You Yahoo!? >> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection >> around http://mail.yahoo.com >> >
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