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| 8/25/25 |
Although I haven’t been sketching them as much as I did in previous years, I am still enjoying visits from Steller’s jays when I have lunch out
on the back deck. When I open the kitchen door and start prepping my lunch,
often a jay will stand on the deck railing in anticipation of what they know
I’ll bring out: Peanuts.
After they’ve had their fill, they sometimes return to the
railing to preen. As one jay took a particularly leisurely time, I kicked
myself for not having any sketch materials with me (me – the one who is always
lecturing to newbie sketchers about the importance of having sketch materials
at all times because one never knows when a sketch opportunity will arise!). I
knew that if I went into the house to get something, the moment would be lost,
so I just enjoyed the moment.
The next day, a jay had barely grabbed a few peanuts when an
opportunistic raccoon showed up. I had no intention of feeding trash pandas,
but this one was so used to humans that it would not scare away!
I did what any equally opportunistic sketcher would
do: I dashed into the house to grab my bag. A short time later, four adorable
kits showed up to dine with mama (all sketches in this post are from life except the last one).
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| 8/20/25 |
By this time, I had learned my lesson. The next time a jay
came to preen, I had a pencil ready. A day later, the same jay (I think) came
back for lunch and another leisurely preen fest.
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| 8/25/25 |
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| 8/26/25 |
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| 8/26/25 |
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| 8/26/25 |
Finally, I wanted to try a jay with a brush pen. I used a
reference photo for this. |
| 8/26/25 photo reference |
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| I sometimes put the nut bin out on the railing while I'm prepping my lunch. A jay will tap on the bin to let me know it's lunchtime! |
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| Opportunistic trash panda mom . . . |
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| . . . and three of her four kits! |
I had no idea Jays puffed up like that. Good thing you included a photo because I couldn't believe your sketches could be right! As for the raccoons - I rented a place that was next to a slough that emptied into the lake - the owner also had a summer place plus a huge barn on the property. There were raccoons hanging about - the maintenance crew mentioned finding a skeleton sometime after what they thought was where they were getting into the barn was closed up. Apparently not all got out when the eviction notice was served. I watched as a momma hustled her babies up a vine along one end of the barn that provided them a new entry into the barn attic - we'd run into each other along the driveway to the summer house. Fierce buggers that I definitely wouldn't mess with. She made that very clear.
ReplyDeleteI've heard similar stories about raccoons! She and her fam may be cute, but I know there's nothing cuddly about mama!
DeleteThat is so great that they are close enough to see them clearly while you sketch them. I love the photo of the puffed-up blue jay!
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky to have this deck! They're so much fun to watch!
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