I mean that in a good way, of course, and I’m talking about piñon jays like the ones below.

They sure look healthy, don’t they?

They usually travel in big flocks of several dozen or more. If they land at your bird feeder, look out — it can get like those old wildlife films of vultures descending on a zebra carcass. But they’re really very shy. The slightest movement send them off in a roar. For some reason, I’ve always liked these birds. They just make me feel good. It helpls that they’re shy, because I feel I’ve been rewarded when they show up. This wouldn’t happen if we didn’t live on the edge of the wide open spaces, either, because these birds don’t generally show up in town.

The reason I call them “high desert seagulls,” however, is for the “kee-kee” sound they make in flight. It does sound eerily like seagulls flying over the harbor.