Cyanocitta stelleri

Spent the day birding Patrick's Point State Park. The collection of hiking trails and campgrounds sits atop some of the cliffs that jut out into the Pacific Ocean along the unspoiled northern California coastline. Coniferous trees dominate the landscape, thus yielding better forest birds than areas closer to town. Highlights included a Peregrine Falcon and Bald Eagle! I also saw several warblers and a lone Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

This fine bird is a Steller's Jay. It is the only crested jay in the western U.S. It is often considered a nuisance for its harassment of picnic sites, but it's a beautiful bird all the same. This species is capable of uncanny mockery; several times I've heard one give the call of a Red-Tailed Hawk.