My Brave Buddy Nutty 2/2 - Please read and zoom in ;-)

My Getty Images Portfolio and Flickr Getty Album

The above image of Flaushi's very amiable brother Nutty the Nutcracker was taken back in November 2019 while I was standing right by him on my little terrace.

This is the promised CU of my special buddy Nutty and it is not a crop but done per my usual way aka without any editing or processing plus handheld and sans flash. Note the shutter "speed" of 1/10 for both images! Zooming in is still recommended for the full fluffy feathers immersion experience ;-)

For my previous upload, I actually had to move a few paces back and zoom out as Nutty has a tendency to land within a few inches of my person or hop right to my feet.

Nutty and I both wanted to thank all of my friends for their most heartfelt and incredibly kind comments under my last posting. It meant a great deal to us both and was more than appreciated.

I should mention that I believe that Nutty has gone MIA since just before the Christmas holidays because he is off to find one of the marriage markets that the Jays host around February. He has a tendency to turn up in phases around my terrace, so that is nothing new.

As part of the divorce settlement with his ex-wife, he also is forced to get himself new digs even though he grew up around my place. His ex Kinga decided she liked his childhood home so much that she would keep the "mansion" and the daily access to the fresh organic peanuts ;-)

The good news for the avid readers amongst my friends is that everything from here on out is the same exact backstory as the one under my previous upload. There are also quite a few fun links further below.

Nutty was doing incredibly poorly when I took this shot in dismal light and I was worried that he might not make it. Two days earlier on November 4th, he was attacked so brutally by another Jay that I feared for Nutty's survival chances.

That Jay was relentless and kept swooping down on Nutty each time Nutty tried to come near my terrace. So, I had to go outside and stand guard while semi-flapping my arms to make sure that Nutty could rest and regenerate.

Nutty first turned up on my terrace with all of his injuries during the late afternoon on November 4, 2019. I had not seen him for two days and was a bit worried as he was a daily visitor during this time. Nutty could hardly move and function when he showed up that afternoon.

Unable to balance himself properly even with his wings, his entire right side was giving out completely. He also sustained some injuries around his eyes from the beak of the Jay who kept attacking him. One cannot see these injuries in the above image as he was so fluffed up during the weeks he was recovering on my terrace.

When I got back home from my weekly PT the next day, I found Nutty all fluffed up and perched on the super thin partition right next to my terrace door. He still was not eating and hardly able to move. So, I sat by the terrace door on my chaise to keep a lookout for him while he was napping under the covered part of my patio while it was pouring buckets.

A week earlier, I had suffered a pretty bad fall myself which I get into a bit more under my holiday posting: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Hence, I could hardly stand and sit upright myself but at least no one was constantly attacking me. I know just what extreme forms bullying can take on from personal experience so I had to make sure that Nutty was OK, no matter what.

Back in Kindergarten when I was 4 years old at my old all-girls school in New England, my classmates were playing "London Bridge is Falling Down." I was already a musical child prodigy by that time and way too different overall. I had even just been accepted to Hunter College in NYC for my artwork! But, all I wanted to do, was to have fun with other kids and play.

When I joined the game, my classmates decided to gang up on me and strangle me. My lips turned blue and I was choking before the teachers intervened. I came home with deep strangulation marks on my throat, but no one cared in those days back in 1975.

Believe me, my classmates knew exactly what they were doing and they did it with such relish. Kids can be downright cruel while still being fully aware of what they are doing, contrary to popular belief.

After the incident, there were no consequences. It was just kids being kids. Plenty of shoulder shrugging. A stage mother from hell was also not exactly helpful nor was a mostly absent father.

To this day, I cannot wear turtlenecks or anything around my neck as it was a super close call. And that was only the beginning for me when it came to physical bullying and emotional mobbing...

So, I could really relate to what Nutty was going through except that the situation was way worse for him as it was ongoing. He still had to deal with all of the natural predators lurking about like our local Sparrowhawk couple plus the Jay mobbing was relentless. That Jay was there with his gang and they were not much nicer either.

Nutty then spent most of the day on my terrace while recovering as best he could. He was planted here daily from November 4th until December 17th and we became even closer. Happily, that Jay bully and his gang moved on after a while.

Oh right, so that bully Jay is Mr. Kinga. His wife Kinga aka the former Mrs. Nutty still randomly turns up sans new hubby as of December 2019. When I ask her about Nutty, she just gives me a piercing look. For the inside scoop on Kinga and both of her hubbies, please continue reading ;-)

Sadly, I have not seen Nutty since December 17, 2019. Dozens and dozens of Redwings from Scandanavia descended on our neighborhood at this time, bringing some other rare songbird visitors with them like Bramblings and Fieldfares. Some lousy shots taken through the dirty window with no light will follow as photographic evidence at some point on my stream.

Our local Sparrowhawk couple then decided to stop their usual rounds and stick around with this all-you-can-eat-buffet courtesy of Mother Nature so I reckon Nutty moved on to safer pastures. Well, at least I hope so.

Here is a shot of how Nutty normally looks like in all of his splendor when he was the first one to wish me a Happy New Year back in 2018: Happy New Year from Flaushi's Brother Nutty

Another shot of this lovely Jay from November 2017: My Buddy Nutty

Nutty became the toast of my Flickr friends with this shot as the backstory took on a life of its own thanks to the brilliant imagination of my dear friends on here: Nutty the Punk Rocker Jay 1

The sequel to the previous posting about Nutty where he became a founding member of a uber-cool rock band called "Nutty and the Pacas" courtesy of the incredibly talented Ironic Dream (do take a moment to check out her dazzling stream): Nutty the Punk Rocker Jay 2

Before I get into more about all the dramatic ordeals dear Nutty faced throughout 2019, I should point out that the Eurasian Jays are notoriously shy and skittish. They will be gone in an instant if a person just blinks their eyes from a distance of 20 meters (65 ft) quite unlike the fearless American Blue Jays and the uber-friendly Florida Scrub Jays: Carole meets the friendly Americans

Like his special brother Flaushi aka my guardian angel, Nutty never gets into any scuffles with the other Jays or songbirds. He is generally always in a great mood and will brighten up my day whenever he turns up to swoop down to the peanuts on my one chair under the covered part of my patio.

After his best pal Aristo aka The Mr. Darcy of the Jays got hitched to his sister in March 2016, Nutty ended up finding himself a lovely wife later that year.

At first, I thought that Nutty had found a new buddy to join his peanut collecting activities during the fall of 2016. Jays are social birds and will travel around in small groups during the fall and winter.

This new bud was the ultimate peanut "king." I have never seen a Jay stuff so many peanuts with a shell into their crops and beaks. So, I nicknamed this rather slim and elegant Jay "King" aka the ultimate peanut king. When I finally registered that this was Mrs. Nutty, it was promptly amended to Kinga ;-)

Kinga always hops up to the armrest of the peanut chair and turns her head back to show me how many peanuts she can stack. She then hops back down for seconds and thirds. It is always such fun to see what a kick she gets out of doing this. I did film Kinga and Nutty quite a bit during the fall of 2017 while I was sitting outside right next by the peanut chair.

Nutty and Kinga were inseparable plus such a gorgeous couple. I was so hoping to finally see some junior Jays around as the last time there were any, was the year Flaushi and his siblings were born in the summer of 2014.

Fast forward to May 2019. Suddenly, Nutty was being physically attacked and mobbed by another male Jay. It seems that Kinga and Nutty were having marital problems due to their kids repeatedly not making it. Jays only nest once per year and about 75% of their young do NOT make it. So, the odds are stacked against them.

The extreme drought and heatwave we had the previous year from April - November 2018 did not help matters either, especially with the lethal Usutu virus from Swaziland wreaking havoc amongst all the songbirds that summer and fall for the first time in Hamburg.

I think that Kinga ended up blaming poor Nutty for everything as she promptly filed for a divorce and then married this new Jay. Mr. Kinga is a real bully when it comes to Nutty. Well, to be fair I am sure he is only making sure his wife is happy. He sure is overly protective of Kinga.

Nutty got pretty beat up this past May with a slew of internal injuries thanks to Mr. Kinga. At the time, most of his right side gave out. He had trouble balancing on a branch or armest. His right leg was unable to hold him even if I could not detect any external injuries like a broken leg or so.

The only way, Nutty was able to even get to the goody bowl to gobble down the finally chopped organic peanuts as he could no longer collect nuts or tear threw them was when I was standing outside right next to him. Mr. Kinga didn't dare attack Nutty when he was literally under my wing. But, if I was only standing by the open terrace door Mr. Kinga would still swoop down to attack.

It was bad and I was really worried about Nutty as he was also so broken-hearted. After quite a few weeks, he managed to semi-recover even though he still had trouble landing everywhere and had to balance himself via his wings. Clearly, he sustained long-term injuries.

During his late molt that always kicks off the beginning of August, Nutty ended up hanging out for the greater part of the day in the Wayfaring tree that overgrows my terrace and that of my super-nice neighbor. Martin never uses his terrace as he hangs out in the garden of his long-time girlfriend who lives right by a nature sanctuary. Her dad is a birding enthusiast and ornithologist.

During this time, I got some great CU shots of Nutty. Both Martin and I were convinced Flaushi was suddenly back and hanging out as Nutty truly morphed into Flaushi during this time in every way. Usually, Nutty is super fast and he is the most athletic Jay of his clan. Now, Nutty was super fluffed up and napping the entire day while giving me the same kind of loving looks his brother would give me.

But when he hopped down to grab some peanuts, it was obvious that it was Nutty. Technically, the brothers are nearly polar opposites physically and with their personalities. Nutty takes after their slim dad while Flaushi and his late sister always channeled their super adorable mom in every way: The Mama Jay

Here is a shot of the sweet Mama Jay in the same exact spot as Nutty in the above image: More of the Mama Jay

Nutty found it incredibly amusing when I suddenly thought that he was his darling brother this past August. If you have a look-see of this CU of Flaushi taken during his first adult molt on my terrace back in August 2015, you will see what I mean: Contemplation

For more family resemblances, check out this album I have devoted to the Jays surrounding Flaushi and his clan:
The Buddha Jay Album

Nutty is a most personable character, very much like another Jay whom I call Rocky. If I were to cast him as a person in "High School Musical," Nutty would be president of the student body as well as captain of the football team. Basically, all the girls would want to date him and the guys would want to be him ;-)

Flaushi actually instigated the peanut craze for all of my feathered and furry friends at the end of October 2014. He was around 5 months old at the time and proceeded to bring both parents and siblings to my terrace after having "trained" me to put the organic peanuts in a shell on the seat of the terrace chair right by the door.

A very special and unusual jay in every way, all the smaller songbirds adore Flaushi and follow him around plus try to emulate his sweet and peaceful demeanor. He is the real-life inspiration behind my upcoming picture book series, "Flaushi the Buddha Jay."

Taken in: Germany / Hamburg / Hamburg, Freie und Hansestadt / Marienthal (show map)

Taken on: November 6, 2019

Tags:

sooc

jay

Eurasian jay

Garrulus glandarius

Eichelhäher

Singvogel

Rabenvogel

Vogel

Natur

Germany

Hamburg

Wayfaring tree

Wolliger Schneeball

Viburnum lantana

songbird

bird

nature

#SundayLights

Flickr birds

The Enchanted Terrace

Nutty the Nutcracker « less

Sets appears in: • The Best Backstories • Getty Images Collection more » • The Buddha Jay « less

Groups appears in: • FlickrToday (only 1 pic per day) • ! 90+ Faves (P1,A+F3) more » • Songbirds in Europe • Feel...write...share... • Sunday Lights - Only your best ! « less

Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ61, f/6.4, 1/10 sec, 129mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Panasonic DMC-TZ61
Aperture:	f/6.4
Exposure Time:	0.1 sec (1/10)
Focal Length:	129mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	High gain up
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Photos 1.5
Show full info

Stats: 3,761 views / 323 comments

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: