[Birdtalk] Watch for Pinyon Jays

[Kristin Purdy]

I've recently seen or heard of Pinyon Jay observations that may indicate a 
failure of the pinyon pine seed crop and a subsequent jay irruption. On 
Sunday during the Ogden Valley UOS field trip, Eric Huish exclaimed, "I hear 
a Pinyon Jay!". Eric and the rest of us spun around and scanned the sky to 
see two Pinyon Jays flying across SR-39 from The North Arm Natural Area and 
headed up the mountain maple-covered slope. This is a very odd place for 
Pinyon Jays. Not only is Ogden Valley dominated by riparian habitat due to 
the four forks of the Ogden River and also Pineview Reservoir, but maple is 
not the bird's preferred habitat. Thanks to Eric for this find.

Arnold Smith told me he and one of his sons have recently seen Pinyon Jays 
in Croydon and another location in Morgan County. Morgan County has a lot 
more pinyon-juniper habitat than does Weber, but I take the two sightings as 
data points, just as our birding community noted the early appearance of 
Red-breasted Nuthatches in low elevations last year as a harbinger of the 
winter's down slope mountain bird movement.

I encourage everyone to report their Pinyon Jay observations, especially 
those that seem wide-ranging away from pinyon-juniper habitat. Perhaps our 
collective observations will tell a tale about the status of winter food 
resources.

Kris