Look, in the sky, it's a bird?

These are the days of strange noises. This morning, early, I heard an agitated scrub jay. I wondered what was going on, since the last time I heard such excited utterances was when the scrub jays were being stalked by a cat. As I was working out in the yard later, I kept on hearing buzzy scolding sounds, like a hoarse squirrel. Later in the afternoon, I finally spied the culprit—a gray-headed juvenile jay who was getting audibly excited any time a parent came around with a tidbit of food. One of the parents must have been coaxing junior along this morning.

Sometimes even seeing the bird does not help with identification. This little guy pictured above was bobbing around the back yard a few days ago. Can you guess? The shape is familiar, the white edges on the tail ring a bell, but the dead give away for me (and I am cheating) is that I have seen his parents in the yard for several weeks now.