Can you identify these Mystery Birds?

by Sara, Geoff, Ruth
(Brantford, London, Lake Simcoe, Chatham)

In April Sara from Brantford asked ... This bird is larger than a robin , and sounds like a "sick" Blue Jay. It has black and white and some other colors, maybe some brown it was high in the trees with 6 other of the same kind. Never have I seen this bird in my walks. The place is Paris Ontario and near water , parks and woods.

In July, one of our readers from London, Ontario, wrote to ask ... I don't know many birds, but I didn't recognize this one and was curious, so here goes: -pair of birds, one a little more timid than the other, longer beaks, really worked away at pulling up worms at edge of patio, red patch at back of head/top of neck, greyish back with "bands" of black in a pattern moving backwards from the neck, thin yellow stripe before tail feathers, at end of wing feathers (perhaps), black patch on chest, white underneath. I tried to get a picture but moved far too slowly.

Back in August, one of our readers wrote to ask ... I hear and see this bird frequently on the Eastern shore of Lake Simcoe. It produces a very loud and distinctive 3-note call which sounds like a "Woo Dee Dee, Woo Dee Dee" in a high pitched whistling timbre, where the second and third note are one semitone higher than the first note. They appear to be black and white with crests on top of their heads and white bellies. They are medium sized, very graceful, and resemble black and white blue jays. My best guess is that they are either Hairy Woodpeckers or Belted Kingfishers, but neither of those birds appear to make sounds like these birds do. I don't have a picture, unfortunately. Any ideas?

Ruth Smith from Chatham wrote, in June, to ask for help to identify a bird ... I saw this bird last night. A bit bigger than a Robin. Its upper chest was lighter red than Robin, lower part light yellow. Its back was charcoal with white spots. My gut said Quail but it was not that large or colorful.

Dear Readers - if you can help identify these birds, that would be great!

I wonder if the bird that was seen near Lake Simcoe, could be a Grey Jay 0 readers, what do you think?