We first spotted a Jay in our garden not long after we started taking note of our garden birds back in 2002. Visits are rare, typically once a year hunting for acorns under the neighbour's overhanging Oak tre, and we were unable to get anything other than very blurred recognition shots.
We have though encountered the Jay on walks elsewhere, but it has still proved quite hard to photograph. The picture on the right (May 2003) is at least sharp, and so will enlarge a bit but, being high up in a conifer against a bright sky, shows little of the bird's colourful plumage.
Then, in December 2007 the bird below suddenly appeared, rummaging through the fallen leaf litter. By chance, the windows had been cleaned only a few days earlier and not yet lashed by the salt-laden rains of the south coast English winter. These three pictures will enlarge quite well.
Another visitation in late September 2008 provided a similar photographic opportunity. Could it be the same bird?