Western Scrub Jay

[Miguel Palaviccini]

An interesting species, to say the least. These guys are quite savvy when picking out their meals - in this case the meal of choice were peanuts. They swoop in at the sound of the peanuts hitting the ground - first come, first serve. The early ones get a chance to pick which peanut they want. They pick it up and assess it. If it's up to standard, they take it. If not, they drop it back in it's place and measure up the next. What neat behavior!

These shots were taken in Doug B.'s backyard. It took a while to get them to land on the perch, but we figured out a way to do it (see next post).

I've played around with different crops (4x6, 5x7, and 16x9). I decided on the 16x9 based on the curviness of the perch, although I quite like the 5x7 as well.


Shooting Info:
Nikon D800 | 500 f/4 VR
1/1600 | f/7.1 | ISO 400

[Miguel Palaviccini]

And the thing that finally got them landing on the perch? ... Hiring a hand model to put peanut butter and then peanuts on the back side of the perch!

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Hi Miguel, nice pose, details. The curvy perch has character and the mottled bg adds interest. Would be interested in seeing your other crops; a bit too much perch for my eyes.

[Bill Dix]

Hi Miguel. Terrific shot of this handsome fellow. Nice alert pose, and wonderful perch. I could, however, imagine a version with a little less of the perch on the right. I've tried peanut butter to attract woodpeckers in my yard, and find them unmoved. What gets them, though, is drilling some 3/8" holes into the back of a perch and inserting pieces of peanuts.

[Karl Egressy]

Great way to attract them. Will try it next with the Gray and Blue Jays.
The picture is very nice, love the background pose and perch. Good call on the composition, Miguel.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Miguel, love the light in this, which shows of the colours and detail nicely. I like the placement of the Jay at the end of the perch, and the overall placement in the frame. I just feel there is a bit too much space on the RHS. The perch is full of character, and a great BG too.

[Tony Whitehead]

Excellent, pose perch and tip, Miguel. I can see the temptation to keep as much of that perch as possible but I have to agree with the suggestion to prune it from the right.

[gail bisson]

This is lovely.
IQ, light and BG are really nice.
I find there is too much empty space on the right for my taste and would crop away about 10%,
Gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

I love the bird, perch, BG, IQ...but I am in agreement with the others about the comp and amount of perch showing.

The Blue Jays up here behave the exact same way...can you tell they are related!!

[Marina Scarr]

I am happy to hear you finally have Doug shooting in his yard!!! Lovely capture and great job attracting the bird. I agree on too much space on the right.

[Doug Brown]

Hey I didn't consent to have my arm photographed! I had a lot of fun photographing with you in my yard the other day Miguel! I agree with the others about your chosen composition. Miguel sent me the file and this is my version of his image; I cropped to include a bit less perch and focus more on the bird.

[Don Nelson]

Doug
Looking forward to your flight photos as it is landing on the perch.
When will you post those?
Don

PS this trick works well with Stellars Jays, Gray Jays, and Clark's Nutcrackers out west.. also Acorn wookpeckers with vertical perch.(further west than New Mexico ;-)

[Doug Brown]

Doug
Looking forward to your flight photos as it is landing on the perch.
When will you post those?
Don

PS this trick works well with Stellars Jays, Gray Jays, and Clark's Nutcrackers out west.. also Acorn wookpeckers with vertical perch.(further west than New Mexico ;-)

i'm working on flight shots now Don! We get all of the birds you listed except the Gray Jay.

[Don Nelson]

Thanks Doug - Look forward to it

By the way, the Chestnut Backed Chickadees, Black-Capped Chickadees, and Red_breasted nuthatches all show an interest (when the Jays aren't around) but can't figure out how to carry such large booty away...they stick to black oil sunflower seeds. I haven't tried it on the East side of the Cascades where we get the Pinyon Jays.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

I definitely had a blast. Doug, I like your rendition better (from the contrast to the crop). Looking forward to your shots from the day.

I'll have to rework mine a bit.