Blue Jay and a youngin'...... And you thought you'd get to see baby blue jays......?! :sm09: :sm09: :sm24: It never ceases to amaze me how nature finds a way to co-exist in most cases.

Umnak Loc: Mount Vernon, Wa.

And you thought you'd get to see baby blue jays......?!

It never ceases to amaze me how nature finds a way to co-exist in most cases.
I have no idea if eagles would ever feed on blue jays unless it was just an opportunistic moment in time...
Chalk one up for the jay if they do sometimes become dinner for bald eagles, this one had some words for the young eagle and went on it's merry way.

I happened to be on the beach of Padilla Bay. Super low minus tide and GBH's for days.( I counted over 85 of them before I stopped trying to keep track)

Any ideas as to why the shots over the water were not as clear as the one's of the eagle and blue jay? Distances were similar..... Thermals off the water? Less hard opportunities for auto focus? I found it odd and am curious as to why that would be the case...

5D IV 70-200 with a 2.0 tamron TC, hand held at about 380mm
Rob

Ahhh, what a nice day to hunt!

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Hey, where did you come from?
Hey, where did you come from?...

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My voice will be heard and I'm not afraid you you!!

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Finally, some peace and quiet.

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The other side of the beach. Only a minor fraction of all the GBH's here on this day!
$The other side of the beach. Only a minor fractio...$
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to the right of the last shot....

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and to the left of the first GBH shots

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One of these birds is not like the others.....

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UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Very nice varied set, Rob!

williejoha

I doubt that the young Bald Eagle would eat another bird unless it was a carcass. The bald Eagle is basically a fish eater that will also eat such other things like rabbits, mice etc. You have some very nice shots of various birds. Good work.
WJH

NMGal Loc: NE NM

Very nice. Believe that is a Stellar’s Jay.

Umnak Loc: Mount Vernon, Wa.

UTMike wrote:

Very nice varied set, Rob!

Thanks Mike! It was fun watching that Jay squawk at a juvenile eagle.

Umnak Loc: Mount Vernon, Wa.

williejoha wrote:

I doubt that the young Bald Eagle would eat another bird unless it was a carcass. The bald Eagle is basically a fish eater that will also eat such other things like rabbits, mice etc. You have some very nice shots of various birds. Good work.
WJH

I've observed them crabbing and fishing too. I do admit, the eagles don't often go after avian prey but I have seen them take ducks and small geese before, but not the juvenile ones, like I shot the other day. Thanks for stopping in and your kind comments!
Rob

Umnak Loc: Mount Vernon, Wa.

NMGal wrote:

Very nice. Believe that is a Stellar’s Jay.

Thanks Barbara! You could very well be right, I'm not that good at bird ID's...

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

A nice set, Rob! Yep, Stellars Jay. In my experience, larger Raptors don't spend a lot of time bothering with song bird sized birds. Even though the small birds do harass them to no end on many occasions! But Coopers Hawks and similar sized raptors are songbird nightmares!

CWS Loc: El Paso, TX

Nice shots! I think you are right about heat waves causing your images to be soft. Could be wrong as I'm not an expert by any stretch.

Umnak Loc: Mount Vernon, Wa.

Retired CPO wrote:

A nice set, Rob! Yep, Stellars Jay. In my experience, larger Raptors don't spend a lot of time bothering with song bird sized birds. Even though the small birds do harass them to no end on many occasions! But Coopers Hawks and similar sized raptors are songbird nightmares!

Thanks Chief! For the ID and information, alike! Good to know about the Coopers, would that apply to the Kestrel's too?

Umnak Loc: Mount Vernon, Wa.

CWS wrote:

Nice shots! I think you are right about heat waves causing your images to be soft. Could be wrong as I'm not an expert by any stretch.

Thanks so much! Perhaps I'll not be lazy and bring the tripod next time

just to test the theory.

CWS Loc: El Paso, TX

Umnak wrote:

Thanks so much! Perhaps I'll not be lazy and bring the tripod next time

just to test the theory.

I don't think a tripod will help. But again, I'm certainly not an expert. Give it a try.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Umnak wrote:

Thanks Chief! For the ID and information, alike! Good to know about the Coopers, would that apply to the Kestrel's too?

Actually, the Kestrels are so small that they mostly catch insects- grasshoppers and such. But they do take sparrow sized birds and I've seen them feed on mice.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

Umnak wrote:

And you thought you'd get to see baby blue jays...... (show quote)

Beautifully shot 💙💙💙💙

Umnak Loc: Mount Vernon, Wa.

Retired CPO wrote:

Actually, the Kestrels are so small that they mostly catch insects- grasshoppers and such. But they do take sparrow sized birds and I've seen them feed on mice.