I currently have have family of jays living in the large garden that I maintain. The garden is east of Inverness on the Moray firth. Does anyone know if this is unusual? Are they just visiting or have they been extending their territory northwards?
tomtom said: I currently have have family of jays living in the large garden that I maintain. The garden is east of Inverness on the Moray firth. Does anyone know if this is unusual? Are they just visiting or have they been extending their territory northwards?
I'm not sure if Jays generally reach that far north into Scotland. Looking at the distribution map on the main RSPB site it would appear not.
So I'd say you are rather lucky.
Hi tomtom and welcome to the RSPB Forum. Enjoy yourself here
tomtom: rhodopsin has hit the nail on the head and it is true that Jays are very rare and not sighted if at all in Scotland. Dave and I debated this with another birdwatcher we met yesterday at Grafham Water, and he said the same thing that Jays do not reside in Scotland (he lives there)
Do you have any photo's so we can see what species you had in your garden?
Regards
Kathy and Dave
Jays are quite common in the Northeast of Scotland It dont surprise me none that you have a pair up in Inverness I have seen them as far as Oban on the west coast. Its not that they aint there just real hard to spot most of the time because they are quite a shy bird.
Only pleace you wont see them is on the Moors But if theres pine woods you have every chance of seeing or at least hearing them.
Cheers
AL
Nicki C said: Hi tomtom and welcome to the RSPB Forum. Enjoy yourself here tomtom: rhodopsin has hit the nail on the head and it is true that Jays are very rare and not sighted if at all in Scotland. Dave and I debated this with another birdwatcher we met yesterday at Grafham Water, and he said the same thing that Jays do not reside in Scotland (he lives there) Do you have any photo's so we can see what species you had in your garden? Regards Kathy and Dave
Unknown said: Jays are quite common in the Northeast of Scotland It dont surprise me none that you have a pair up in Inverness I have seen them as far as Oban on the west coast. Its not that they aint there just real hard to spot most of the time because they are quite a shy bird. Only pleace you wont see them is on the Moors But if theres pine woods you have every chance of seeing or at least hearing them. Cheers AL
Hi tomtom
Not really sure if I actually "hit the nail on the head" by stating that "I'm not sure if Jays generally reach that far north into Scotland" but judging my Al's post it must be the case that Jays have been known to travel that far north. So be pleased you've spotted them and make sure you get some snaps.
Richard
The jay can be found in Scotland where there is suitable woodland habitat. However there are large areas that are unsuitable for this shy woodland species. A really good way to check the distribution of birds is to use the animated map function on the Birdtrack website linked here.
Well worth reporting your northerly sighting of the jay as it will help with the monitoring of this species distribution.
Great news that you have Jays.They are a gorgeous bird.
Hi everyone!
I was going to post my own question about jays but thought I would just add a wee bit on the end of this if thats ok with tomtom?!
As everyone knows I live in Glasgow and just wondered what my chances of seeing a jay anywhere near here was? Thats great news if they are breeding as far north as Invernesshire (folks live there).
When I was younger I was told by birders I met on various birdwatching holidays that seeing them in Scotland is very rare but from whats been said already it looks as though i might be in with a better chance than i thought!
Thought i was barking when i saw my first nuthatch a few years back but now it seems they too have established well in Scotland are also moving further north. This is great news as i dont often have the chance of going south of the border so looks like a lot of birds might be coming to me!!!
Anyone got anymore Scottish sightings?
El
Hi,
birds ranges expand and contract all the time, published breeding atlases are always going to be out of date as soon as they are published.
This situation often occurs in more exotic foreign countries, we encounter species 'where they arent supposed to be' because nobody told the birds they werent supposed to be there :))
It's September, almost time for Jays to be here arriving from scandinavia .
:)
S
Thanks, again, S!