Friday, January 18, 2013

Who Knew?


What do you do with hazelnuts that have gone stale?

Put them out for the squirrels...


But, it wasn't the squirrels who came to eat them.

Who knew that Bluejays love hazelnuts?




They looked so happy!

They grabbed them.


They called their friends.

They tried to take as many as they could hold!


When I saw them swallowing the nuts whole,
I became a little worried.


Gulp!


I hoped I wasn't going to be inadvertently responsible for killing them :(

Not to worry.
I watched them fly up to a nearby tree where they regurgitated the nuts and pecked them into smaller pieces.


Before long, they'd eaten every single nut.
All that remained were their footprints in the snow.

48 comments:

  1. Squirrels love nuts. Jays like nuts, acorns.
    Your birds are foodies. One swallow them.
    Surprising.
    Have a nice weekend.
    Regards
    Lucia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha Lucia, that is so funny, my birds are "foodies!" They have come to the right house for sure because we are "foodies" too :)

      Delete
  2. Wonderful, wonderful photos Rosemary and a delightful running commentary to go with them♥

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Rosemary, these birds are such "characters," they tell a new story every time they show up :)

      Delete
  3. Beautiful birds and beautiful pictures! I have been trying to take pictures of the birds coming in our garden to eat from the food I place there for them but no succes sofar. They all fly away as soon as I try to get nearer. O well, it's a beautiful view to just watch and enjoy from inside our warm house as well, isn't it?
    Have a lovely weekend,
    Marian

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with you Marian, they do startle easily and are hard to photograph. As usual this was a complete surprise: that they ate the nuts, that we had placed them close to the house, that we happened to be there (with the camera) when they began their feast!

      Delete
  4. Zamiast wiewiórek zjadły je śliczne ptaki. Świetne zdjęcia, a szczególnie te z dwoma orzechami w dziobie ptaka. Pozdrawiam.
    Instead of squirrels ate them pretty birds. Great pictures, especially those with two nuts in its beak bird. Yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Giga, I guess the bird trying to take two nuts at once couldn't believe his good fortune!

      Delete
  5. You made some blue jays very happy today!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Laurrie, I think these blue jays made some squirrels (who the nuts were intended for) very sad :) If the blue jays are happy, I'm happy!

      Delete
  6. Lovely bird is this.....your pictures are really FANTASTIC.

    Wish you a lovely weekend Rosemary.

    Greetings, Joop

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Joop, the blue jays were very close to the house so I could take my time photographing them. It's not always so easy :)

      Delete
  7. Fabulous captures, Rosemary. Just fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, I was lucky the blue jays were so hungry :)

      Delete
  8. Lovely photos, and what amazing colours on those birds!
    I have introduced a bird feeder in my garden, hoping to attract some birds into my garden, I'd very much like to take some bird photos too :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Helene, honestly I don't know which makes me happier, the plants in my garden or the birds the garden attracts. I adore them both equally. I wish you luck with your feeder, just be patient. It sometimes takes a while for the birds to find and frequent new feeders :)

      Delete
  9. How wonderful! I love your photos of these cute birds. I love the pattern of their feathers, I've never seen a close up of them before x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bluejays are one of my favourite birds especially for their wonderful colouring. Nature mystifies me with the attention and detail given to each one of her creations :)

      Delete
  10. I did the same thing recently with stale walnuts. I was at work when the critters ate them but it must have been a feast. :o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, too bad you didn't get to see their happy faces and the joyous hoots and whistles as they scooped up the nuts. Definitely a "feel good" moment :)

      Delete
  11. Huh, who knew? I love seeing bluejays though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who knew is right. When's the last time you saw hazelnuts in the bird feed section, right? I agree with you, whatever it takes to get a bluejay to visit is allright with me :)

      Delete
  12. I've not seen such birds in my country. Its most delightful to see them indulging. These photos of the jaybirds are so lovely. Great photograpy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, these are Bluejays (I always forget to put the name of the bird in the blog post). Like most jays they are loud, funny birds with larger than life personalities! (Plus, these ones have the most awesome, ridiculously beautiful colouring!)

      Delete
  13. Rosemary what great pictures of this beautiful bird.
    And with his booty, he very proudly took off and he was the squirrel!
    Well done, a 10 for your performance so as soon as they are TOP!
    regards, Annie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Annie, these Bluejays loved the nuts so much I think if the squirrels did show up the Bluejays would have chased them away :)

      Delete
  14. Great pictures of this beautiful bird, Rosemary.
    I wish you a great weekend.
    Greetings Irma

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Irma, the Bluejay is one of my favourites.

      Delete
  15. Well done Rosemary, the way to go!
    It is wonderful to admire their wing and tails feathers here!
    Now you know exactly what to do to take birds pics! LOL!
    The next step is organizing a hide in the garden so you get nice and shard photos...
    But good luck with freezing on the spot, I had bad frostbites on 2 toes recently! LOL!!!
    The Blue Jay in one of my favourite birds but we don't get them in France!
    Keep well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Noushka, I was lucky, I was hiding in my warm house taking pictures through the window. No frostbite for me :) I hope your toes have recovered!

      Delete
  16. Nice series of this Bluejay, Rosemary, they don't sustitute here.

    Best regards,
    Ad

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ad, this is one of my favourite birds and they stay here all year long even in the coldest part of winter. We are very lucky to have this beautiful bird.

      Delete
  17. wow, those birds (bluejay I've readen in a post up here) are sooo perfect!! I'm so "jalous" in good sense of your work and your possibility to meet them, we dont have them here..
    The snow did but come :-)
    have a nice Sunday
    Dany

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Dany, they really are so beautiful, I adore them! I'm happy you have snow, let the winter fun begin!

      Delete
  18. Great story, Rosemary, and well illustrated with your shots. Wouldn't have known blue jays were hazelnut lovers if I hadn't seen it here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Rick, Blue Jays are such "characters," they bring a show wherever they go!

      Delete
  19. What a sweet story:) The Blue Jays must have thought they struck gold, finding all these delicious nuts! You remind me of myself, worrying about the birds swallowing the nuts whole:) Glad you were able to see them bring them back up and eat them properly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha Tammy, must be the "mom" in us, worrying about them choking :) Blue Jays are so loud and comical, they make me laugh no matter what they do.

      Delete
  20. Godt indlæg.
    Smukke fuglebilleder.
    Tak for kigget.
    Ga` en god dag.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, they are one of my favourite birds and I was happy to take their pictures :)

      Delete
  21. How funny! It's hard to believe they could swallow the entire thing! Great photos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny indeed, but scary at the same time. I had no idea they could swallow something that large but they didn't seem in the least concerned :)

      Delete

  22. Hello Rosemary,

    what a nice series of this beautiful bird. Great to see how he takes the hazelnut in its beak and eats. Very nicely done.




    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Helma, they are always so much fun to watch :)

      Delete
  23. Phew! Thank God they know how to spit it out! I was worried myself..lol!
    Good tale there, love it :)
    Those jaybird surely have lovely colors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ash, Blue Jays are incredibly beautiful and even more so against the white snow. Apparently they are quite the gluttons as well :)

      Delete
  24. I love blue jays and you've taken wonderful pictures of them Rosemary. I can read the headlines now - "Northern Gardener Kills 25% Of Eastern Blue Jay Population."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have made me laugh out loud with the thought of that headline!!! Then they'll add "What kind of fool feeds Blue Jays hazelnuts?"

      Delete

Thank you so much for your kind words :)

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Pages

Blog Archive