This morning was cold (10F) and bright, as it has been all week, and I spent some time with the Wilson's Snipe. This is the same individual Jorge photographed a few days ago, and it has continued feeding in one little stream of running water along the side of Horsebarn Hill. I didn't even open the car window, but used the binoculars to watch it probing the mud, snoozing, watching me, watching the harrier cruise overhead.

field sketches of the snipe

Wilson's Snipe, Gallinago delicata
Horsebarn Hill, Storrs Connecticut

Jorge gave me three photos to choose from, all beautiful portraits of great birds, but the choice was easy for me - I just love Blue Jays. This one was hunting something in the leaf litter on the side of Horsebarn Hill.

Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata
Horsebarn Hill, Storrs, Connecticut

 And quite possibly my favorite jay, the ubiquitous Blue Jay of Eastern North America. Cyanocitta cristata makes frequent forays farther west, especially in mountainous areas, which it shares with the equally stunning Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri - the only other member of the genus.

Every morning I take a handful of peanuts out to the feeding tray and sing out to "my jays" - Come for peanuts jay jay blue jay, come for peanuts! And by the time I'm back inside and the door has closed behind me they've arrived and are gobbling up the peanuts.

Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata, Mansfield, Connecticut

Jorge's bird for today is the Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris - always a pleasant surprise to find out on Mirror Lake on the UConn campus. There were a couple of females there today, hanging out with the Mallards and Canada Geese. The Aythya ducks are divers, not dabblers as are the Mallards, so when there were five ducks sitting and suddenly only four, we knew it was something different.

Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris, Mansfield, Connecticut

AvesInArt January Challenge continues

January 22nd. My sketch for today is the bold and brilliant blue jay. Throughout the Americas, jays fill the niche of noisy omnivore, often living in close proximity to people.

BLUE JAY, Cyanocitta cristata. Colored pencil and sharpie marker.
January 22, 2015. Willington, Connecticut, USA.

Jorge's bird of the day was photographed at the coast, where we have three common species of gulls year 'round.  During the winter other gulls show up as well, but you have to be a full-time bird-chaser to be able to photograph those guys!

RING-BILLED GULL, Larus delawarensis.
January 2015, Connecticut, USA.