Friday, March 14, 2014

Spring?

We had a major snowstorm on Wednesday (March 12), 10 inches of snow, then the temperature dropped to minus 29. It didn't seem to bother the birds, who are forging ahead with springtime activities.

The breeding season for blue jays is quite long, from March to July. In a given locale, mating pairs emerge from the courtship groups at any time during this five month season.

 This pair was courting in the protection of the cedar tree during the blizzard.
 
 
Male and female Blue Jays are almost identical in appearance.
 Males are just slightly larger than females.
 
 
Displaying quiet ritualistic feeding behaviors,
which indicates they will be a mating couple.


 
sharing with...
 

Also braving the storm, a black squirrel.
 
 
sharing with...
 
Beep (my granddaughter) is joining some memes this week.
She's thrilled when people drop in to Beep's Blog (Click here)
 
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 

44 comments:

  1. Love these shots. A first to see a black squirrel.

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  2. sweet jays! love your black squirrels. :)

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  3. Bravo-= wonderful shots, you sure have talent, lady!

    I cannot believe that tiny seed - your timing was perfect, just WOW!

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  4. The jays are so cute. We're also getting snow. We could get more this weekend than what we had all winter.

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  5. Great shots Karen - a little envy re the snow from here, as we had light snow covering the ground for a total of 8 hours this winter.... wierd weather pattern and now we are marching fast onwards to spring

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  6. These are beautiful shots, Karen!

    We have the same weather, and I heard the blue jay out there but didn't see them.

    Happy weekend!

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  7. Great shots Karen. Spring is coming right?:) Hug B

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  8. Love the 2 cardinals ~ they look like 'love birds' ~ beautiful shots ~ Happy Weekend ^_^

    artmusedog and carol
    www.acreativeharbor.com

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  9. Gorgeous shots of the jays! Their blue coloring shows up well against the snow. We, too, will be getting some of that Canadian cold and snow!I need spring!!!

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  10. Beautiful couple of birds and so a lovely squirrel :)
    Have a happy weekend :)

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  11. Love is in the air! Sweet couple and cute squirrel.
    Awesome shots!

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  12. Beautiful photos, but I can't stop wondering why they're not shivering to the point of falling off the tree.

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  13. So lovely! Such beautiful photos!

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  14. That snow came up from the States and hit us too but a lot of it melted yesterday!

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  15. Exquisite captures, Karen. Thank you for sharing your beautiful part of our world. (I've just returned to Australia from a wonderful 3 weeks on Vancouver Island, and although I'm told it has a warmer climate than the rest of Canada, snow did make its presence felt - albeit fleetingly!)

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  16. Wow, this snow has to go!! Love the cute Bluejay couple. And the squirrel is cute covered in snow! Thank you for linking up with Saturday's Critters.. Have a happy weekend!

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  17. Such sweet shots of these snowflake-bedecked critters.

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  18. Love overcomes all hey? Even a Canadian blizzard!! *LOL*

    Really terrific shots of those lovely jays and the fluffed up squirrel looks cute but possibly having a bad hair day? *VBS*

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  19. They are in love, fantastic photos.

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  20. Splendid shot of the Blue Jays.

    Could not get up to the cliff buildings - they stopped the public from doing that in the 1950s! Shame.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  21. love, love, love those jays!!

    will spring ever come??

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  22. Those are the sweetest photos of Blue Jays I have ever seen, and lovely with the snow falling. Hope your spring comes soon :)

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  23. The snow missed us Last Wednesday, but we sure got the cold, and the wind. Still really, really cold. :-(

    Those blue jays are just adorable. Many of our birds are returning, and I feel so bad for them out in this cold, but they seem to do just fine.

    I hope you've had a wonderful weekend, Karen, and I wish yo a great week ahead.

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  24. Wonderful Blue Jay shots, kind of reminds me of us, except for the fact that you feed me and not the other way around. Happy Anniversary!

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  25. Wonderful shots! Nice to see a little romance!

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  26. Wonderful shots! Nice to see a little romance!

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  27. When the hormones are flowing the weather and everything else means nothing.

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  28. Great shots of one of our often overlooked and under-appreciated species.

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  29. Hi Karen,

    Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos of blue jays. What a delight!

    Have a Happy Blue Monday!

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  30. How sweet to see this couple taking care of each other during your storm.

    We have black squirrels (in town, not out here.) Cute!~

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  31. Lovely shots Karen. You did really well to capture such behaviour in the cold and snow. I guess the birds know it won't be long before it warms up.

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  32. Wondrful photos of Blue Jays... These birds are in love :-)
    Best regards from Poland/ Michał and Piotr

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  33. Darn cold for courtship! I guess they're ruled by the calendar not the weather. Brrr. Hope you (and the birds) get some real spring soon.

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  34. Such a sweet pair of jays. The photos of them in the snow makes for really pretty images. I don't think I've ever seen a black squirrel. How neat!

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  35. Sounds like the birds are smarter than humans. They give themselves time to get to know each other.

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  36. Spring? What's that? Will it ever arrive?!

    Beautiful captures!

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  37. Snow still, huh? But oh these jays are beautiful in the snow background/foreground. Like two love birds.

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  38. Amazing photos
    Only the winter isn't "Weekly Top Shot" but "Weekly Top Shit"!
    I'm so sorry for the birds, animals and peoples...

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  39. Incredibly beautiful pictures, great captures!

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  40. Incredibly beautiful pictures, great captures!

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