Yes, watching the rain beat on the ground, and dark skies showing no sign of relenting, and all of a sudden, a first for our garden, a jay!
It's been decades since I last saw one, and even then, it was not in the urban environment...
I've managed to back a few photos, and apologies for the poor quality, though I did have to edit them a little to make them clearer.
The very first photo, it was a case of grab the camera and point before it flew off!
And I even manged to get a half decent photo of the jay hopping around the garden. Yes, it's feet are off the ground!
That certainly brightened up my day.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
gaynorsl said:Great captures Mike, liked the aerobatics, was it tamping for worms!!! Never had one in the garden you are soooo lucky.
Thank you Gaynor, it may have been tapping the ground for worms, but I don't think there'll be much luck, I hardly see any worms here, which is a little concerning considering how many we had at our last place.
Reading up about jays, it did say looks for parasites, I guess that might mean insects, of which we have quite a few and a good variety.
Apparently, they also like peanuts from feeders, well, there's a feeder which is kept topped up.
Unknown said:Beautiful to get one in the garden and one who posed nicely, especially given how shy they can be and difficult to catch on camera in the wild.
It was a lucky catch, and no time to set the camera up, I just grabbed the camera and Sigma lens, and hoped the settings were right.
Thankfully they were.
Wendy S said:Even though we live on the edge of farmland and wooded areas we see very few Jays,not the most popular bird in areas what are keepered
No they're not, and at one time were heavily persecuted. I remember a farmer I worked for back in the 70's telling me about them,which was the last time I saw one.
PimperneBloke said:My turn to be jealous of your super pics, Mike, I caught a fleeting glimpse of a jay on my last trip to Holt Heath, but other than that not a sighting since I was a kid.
The beauty of forums and the web, to nicely share photos and share the delight in each others photos and experiences.
But I'm still eager to get a kingy, and otters.
Tony
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wherryman/
KO1 said:Beautiful!
They certainly are beautiful.
Tony T said:Lovely pictures Mike, so colourful on a dull day. Has it got an invisible hover board? We had one in the garden a week ago but not close enough for pics.
Thank you Tony. and it does look a little line an invisible hover board, or was it levitating!
I just kept the jay in focus and kept my finger on the shutter, and luckily caught a couple of reasonable photos of the jay mid-hop....
We've had another visit by a jay, whether it's the same one or not, I've no idea, but it was nice to see, and captured on the Bushnell Natureview HD cam.