COBirders-- With great trepidation, after the excitement related to Mark Peterson’s great sandpiper find, I am posting my sighting of a Blue Jay at our cabin at 9200 ft. in the Sangre de Cristo range. The Checklist for Birds of the Wet Mountain Valley by the Arkansas Valley Audubon Society shows that this species is rare in all seasons in Custer County. The Wet Mountain Valley is nestled between the Wet Mountains on the east and the higher Sangre de Cristo mountains on the west. During the 50+ years we have used our cabin weekly in the six warmer months, last Monday was the first time we have seen a Blue Jay there. I’m of the opinion that its “rare” classification is probably due to sightings in the Wet Mountains. I’m wondering if the sightings of Blue Jay further west (i.e. Salida) have been at lower elevations.
A bit of info for our less experienced Cobirds users: The Steller’s Jay is the native dark blue jay of Colorado’s mountains while the Blue Jay has slowly extended its range from the east to Colorado only in the last 60 years or so. [Any comments on this issue by CFO’s experts are welcome.]
Leon Bright, Pueblo and Custer County
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