The Steller's jay is common in the forests and subalpine of Rainier, and also in my Seattle city yard where my wife feeds them peanuts. I saw this one near Reflection Lakes.

Steller's are the rockstars of western birds. With hair gelled up into a sexy crest and attitude to match, they look gorgeous and they know it. They're closely related to but distinct from the blue jays found in eastern North America.

They are loud, social birds with a wide range of vocalizations that include mimicking other sounds. My favorite is a sound they make that's reminiscent of an old dialup modem. They often imitate the calls of a hawk or osprey, sometimes as a genuine warning of approaching danger but other times as a trick to scare other birds away from a good feeding area :-)