American Robins Nesting in St. Louis Area

American Robins (Turdus migratorius) are of course one of the most familiar birds in North America, although I don't see them all that often where I live in the Central Valley, with the exception of my MJC Mini-wilderness where more than a thousand wintered last year.  On my recent trip to the St. Louis area they turned up just about everywhere, and were the most visible bird I saw during my visit.

Two of them were nesting, one outside our hotel, and the other just outside the foyer where the wedding was taking place. If the bird was panicked about the dozens of people milling just below, it gave no sign.

A couple of posts are coming in quick order, as I am "clearing the decks" for my overseas journey to the Hawaiian Islands. There may be many birds to see, but probably little time to post!

Bald Eagles Nesting Near St. Louis

If you've been following my last few posts, you'll know that I was in St. Louis over the weekend for a wedding. Being not one of the bridal party, instead being just an uncle, I didn't have to get caught up in the maelstrom of wedding planning. The groom's father didn't have a lot to do on Saturday, so he took me kayaking on an 80-acre lake on the outskirts of St. Louis. One of the attractions, besides being my first kayaking "adventure", was a Bald Eagle nest along the shoreline.

I'm amazed, of course, that my camera didn't end up on the bottom of the lake, and we were able to float close enough for some good shots of the Bald Eagle family. Both parents were in attendance, along with one chick, which appeared to be getting reasonably close to being a fledgling.

Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) got treated rather shabbily for being our national bird. They were shot and poisoned almost to extinction in the lower 48 states, and the widespread use of DDT made things worse. They have recovered nicely, and are reclaiming much of their lost range. It was nice to see a thriving family in the Midwestern U.S.

We Don't Have Blue Jays in California: Here's one in St. Louis

Even when I was young, I remember hearing from park rangers and others that California "doesn't have Blue Jays". California has Steller's Jays, Scrub Jays, and Pinyon Jays. But no Blue Jays. Which left me wondering what a Blue Jay actually was, and where a person could see one. Eventually I found that actual Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) are birds of the eastern United States and Canada. They are quite common, of course, but you have to be east of the Rocky Mountains to see them.

I'm in St. Louis this week, and so there are Blue Jays to be seen as easily as going into the back yard of my sis-in-law's place. It was dusk, and they barely ever stopped hopping from tree to tree, but here are some reasonable shots.