Every spring and fall, a couple of Stellars Jays come to visit, sit on the porch railing, and scream at me to give them something to eat. They usually stay a week or so and then they’re gone. This year, I put out some cute birdfeeders that I got from Gardener’s Supply and the jays have stopped screaming and started pigging out.

The new feeders are just like a glass tire shape and the feed sits in the bottom. The birds can sit on the edge or jump inside and pig out. I have mine hanging in the aspen trees out front. This one jay couldn’t figure out how to get inside the bird feeder, so he hopped around the branches awhile, then started bouncing on a branch near the feeder. As he bounced close to the feeder, he would stick his head inside and grab a bite of food. It was hilarious! I wish I could have gotten a movie of this bird desperately bobbing on the branch, just trying to get another bite. After a few days, he finally figured out that he could just hop inside.

I always thought Stellars Jays were migratory birds because I only saw them briefly in the spring and fall. Now that I have food out on a regular basis, they’ve stuck around. I felt kind of guilty, like I was throwing them off their migration schedule and they’d be stuck here all winter, huddling together with little hats and scarves on to stay warm.   But my bird book says they don’t migrate…whew! Now they only scream at me when the feeders run low.