Bird of month - Jay

At this time of the year the Jay becomes much more apparent to everybody. Its Latin name Garrulus glandarius gives away its
best known behaviour of being noisy and chattering at all times. But this is
most noticeable in the autumn when it is seen flying from any stand of trees with acorns or beech nuts, which it has
 collected for winter food, sometimes covering several kilometres.

The Jay is present in good numbers throughout the Blackwater Valley. There
is not a mile of walking that can be done without the likelihood of a sighting or, more likely, hearing the bird. The sound is loud and
harsh, a hoarse scream and this is as much a warning as a call to advertise its presence to other birds in the area. The Valley is sufficiently wooded to enable a large population to maintain itself here. Despite its faults, it is always an attractive sight to find a Jay and with the aid of the screaming call you may see one, acorn in mouth, building its winter food store near you at this time of the year.

The Jay is not an uncommon garden bird, although it is said that most reports of strange birds found in gardens turn out to be Jays. Their plumage is quite unlike that of the remainder of the Crow family, instead of the black or black and white of Crows, Rooks and Magpies, the Jay has a wonderful pinkish colour with a pale blue patch on the wing that shows even when resting and may be the reason why casual observers are so startled by its colours as to think it is a rare bird. In Europe the birds have much darker, almost black heads and a browner pink body but they are always unmistakeable. The contrasting black and white on the wings and throat and the striking white rump make a surprisingly attractive picture.

The first time I consciously recognised a Jay was many years ago in Derbyshire. Whilst walking with a friend in the Peak District we encountered a fence with a row of Crows and Jays hanging there that had been shot by gamekeepers. I was quite puzzled how such an attractive bird could be so disliked by gamekeepers and indeed many others, who I subsequently learned dislike the habit of taking young birds and eggs from nests in the breeding season.

Colin Wilson

Berkshire Ornithological Club
www.berksoc.org.uk                                                            

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