blue jay

I love blue jays.  They are so bright and energetic.  I know they get a bad rap for harassing other birds and stealing eggs, but I do love to look at them.  Thornton Burgess wrote that Sammy Jay's coat looked like a little piece of the sky.

All winter I've been trying to get some photos of blue jays, but they move around a lot, hardly ever sitting still for long, and my photography skills are limited, as is my patience.  Today, however, a jay landed in the dogwood tree outside my kitchen window, and stayed there for a while.  It wasn't exactly sitting still, but it was still enough and close enough that I could get some pictures.  Finally!  And they aren't half bad...

 sitting (and squeaking!)

moving to another branch

with a branch for its nest (?)