B.J. the baby blue jay

I saved B.J. the baby blue jay from a prowling cat in a neighbor's yard.

After chasing the cat off and collecting the baby bird, I scanned for the nest to see if I could put him back. But the trees in that area were way too tall, and there weren't any bushes nearby.

I decided to take him home because it looked like he only needed a couple more days of flight practice before he'd be able to fend for himself. He already had all his flight feathers; he was just really awkward.

He started out cute enough. But baby birds need to be fed pretty frequently... and baby blue jays SCREAM for food!

Scream scream scream!!

Scream some more!!!!

Your finger looks like a big worm! Scream!!!

When we dropped him in an aquarium full of crickets, his mouth became too full to scream. This was a twice-daily ritual while he was still ground-bound. (He also got mealworms.)

In three days, B.J. had learned to fly and was cruising all over our yard. I stopped feeding him; it was time for him to grow up.

But B.J. was accustomed to being waited on, so he still hung around our house SCREAMING for crickets and mealworms.

When you walked out the back door, there was B.J., sitting on the grill. He'd start screaming as soon as you appeared, and wouldn't let up until you went back inside.

He screamed in your ear while riding on your shoulder.

He screamed at you from the lawn mower handle WHILE you were mowing the lawn.

He even screamed at the dogs while clinging to their backs.

Finally, about a week later, I guess he got the hint: no more handouts! We saw him less and less, and one day he just disappeared altogether.

I hope he found a nice mate and had some lovely children.