When we first heard the tin horn-like toots of a red-breasted nuthatch in our yard at the end of July, we were incredulous. While the tiny bird is not out of the ordinary in the lower elevations in fall and winter, it typically makes its first showing quite a bit later, in September, so that was our first clue that the coming winter might bring more mountain visitors.

About a month later, on the last day of August, we heard the screechy calls of a Woodhouse’s scrub-jay announcing its presence. This was a bit on the early side as well, but less so than the nuthatch, and over the next several weeks numbers of the boisterous jays in the vicinity have gradually grown and their screeches and clucks are now heard daily.

More recently, during the second week of October, we had a fleeting but mo

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