Before heading off to vote (Town of Stratford municipal election) and go to work today, some commotion at the bird feeder outside of our dining room had caught my eye. The Blue Jay has to be one of the most beautiful native birds. It is amazing to watch their strategy of defenses and obtaining food. With one or two birds in the trees nearby looking out for the one swooping in at the feeder. The Blue Jay takes a few cautious looks around and attacks into the seeds a few times, then is quickly gone to trades places with one of the birds in the trees letting it take a turn at the feeder. After a while, they all tend to get either cocky or greedy, or perhaps a little bit of both and soon let their defenses down and all head to the feeder... This photo caught two at the feeder as one more was flying in (wing above feeder) to get in on the action. Not only one of my favorites, but this bird is also our provincial bird.

Provincial Birds and their adoption date

Alberta	Great Horned Owl	1977
British Columbia	Steller's Jay	1987
Manitoba	Great Gray Owl	1987
New Brunswick	Black-capped Chickadee	1983
Newfoundland	Atlantic Puffin	1991
NWT	Gyrfalcon	1990
Nova Scotia	Osprey	1994
Nunavut	Rock Ptarmigan	1999
Ontario	Common Loon	1994
Prince Edward Island	Blue Jay	1977
Quebec	Snowy Owl	1987
Saskatchewan	Sharp-tailed Grouse	1945
Yukon	Raven	1985

For pictures visit Knight's Canadian Info Collection