Setting Out the Breakfast Buffet

This morning I was up early restocking the bird feeder on our back patio. It didn't take very long before the first gray squirrel arrived to start feeding on the black sunflower seeds and hen scratch that I had set out. I photographed the the squirrel and then went back outside and shooed it away because what I really wanted to photograph was a Steller's Jay giving me that over the shoulder look. I was quite surprised to see four other squirrels around the base of the feeder waiting their turn! Next to arrive were the Band-tailed Pigeons. None of them obliged me by landing on the perch I had set up so I went in for a portrait. After that I had a bit of a wait going back and forth scaring away the squirrels. Next time I really need to set them up their own feeder around the corner. Eventually the Steller's Jays arrived and I was able to create two very nice images. The last one was a great over the shoulder look from a young Jay. I really like how it shows off the birds plumage. You can tell it is a young bird from this year by the light, fleshy, almost pinkish coloring at the base of its bill. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris