One of a dozen blue jays that wipe out my peanut feeders. This guy knew he was caught in the act!
He is a real beauty, Jim, and well worth the peanuts to get a shot like this! I love the perch, and how he is turning his head to look towards the camera.
Great perch and a wonderful pose, Jim. If it’s going to give you that kind of photo ops, I wouldn’t begrudge it a few peanuts-it could be asking for actor’s equity!
Excellent work.
Very nice detail and pose with a superb perch and background. I really like the composition on this one with the curved perch. I will happily trade you one of these for a Stellar’s Jay, which is probably just as pesky when it comes to being a pig at the feeders.
Feather detail is excellent, as is the background. I like the perch quite a bit, especially the curve and the remaining bark. My only (small) issue is the short, dead branch just under the bird’s rump. Excellent photo overall. I have never had much luck with blue jays.
nice pose and colors. looks light subdued light but still nice.
Thank you all for your critiques. For such big, brightly colored birds, they move quickly and usually perch just out of range. All of our birds do well at the feeders and yes, this one was worth more than a few peanuts. I could always take a Steller’s jay here in Michigan for sure. My hungry horde would raise a stink for sure (LOL)…Jim
I like the pose, angle of light, perch and the OOF background. One of the better images of this species I have seen posted here.
I miss these “eastern” jays! IMO, prettier than our Stellars and Scrub jays - but just as noisy and belligerent.
Fine detail here, nice pose, and clean BG.
I’d also clone out the underneath branch stub, and lighten the area a bit.
Sandy
Thank you Sandy. I’ll have to think about removing that branch. Does not really bother that much. The D500 has been a wonderful camera for birds compared with my old Pentax system. Speed does matter with birds. With my manual focus 600mm f5.6, I’d be lucky to snag one of the tail feathers in the shot. I do like having the jays around. They warn other birds about hawks and they keep our cats in line. When fledglings are out, both Tippy and Tom get strafed constantly and the jays always win. …Jim
