Scrub Jay Babies

[Carol Hiler]

At almost 3 weeks old, the "kids" were sitting at the edge of the nest when I pointed them out to a friend.  Before I could say "NO!", he was behind the Camelia bush, trying to take a picture.  He succeeded, but then all you-know-what broke loose and the babies launched out of the bush, screeching and flapping.  We spent the next 15 minutes rounding them up, placing them back in the nest, and then repeating the procedure as soon as we tried to move away from the nest.

We finally decided that if we could just get them back into the bush, they might find their way back to the nest.  We placed both babies on a branch near the outside of the bush and, at the count of three, turned and ran.  They flapped around awhile but stayed in the bush.  I checked on them later in the afternoon and one was about a foot away from the nest and the other had returned to it's post at the edge of the nest.  What a relief!

This morning, one is on a branch at the top of the Camelia bush and one is in a thickly leaved maple about 5 feet away.  The parents are feeding both successfully.

No more pictures!