Jay's

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.

  • Anonymous
    0 Anonymous 14/09/2010 05:45 in reply to rhodopsin

    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

    If its no fun Yer no doin it right!

  • 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.

     

    Warden Intern at Otmoor.

  • Great news that you have Jays.They are a gorgeous bird.

     

     

    An optimist sees the beauty of the complete rose.A pessimist sees only the thorn .

  • 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?

    Cheers

    El

    Cheers

    DPC

    "dawn is mine, but I will share it, with whatever bird will wear it"

  •  

    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

    For advice about Birding, Identification,field guides,  binoculars, scopes, tripods,  etc - put 'Birding Tips'   into the search box

  • Thanks, again, S!

    Cheers

    DPC

    "dawn is mine, but I will share it, with whatever bird will wear it"

  • We have a busy garden west of Beauly about 350 feet up, and next to old woodland with a burn. This morning We have a gang of five red squirrels and one of whom was enjoying chasing a small bunny rabbit. Wood peckers come all the time and then down came a Jay to add to the fun and games. Very shy and nervous, always on the lookout and picking up scraps of peanuts. I saw the Jay last year 2021 and I have seen it it a few times this early summer. Of course it could be one of a pair I am seeing, I would not know the difference between male and female.