Daily Archives: January 30, 2019

Florida Scrub Jay

By noon Monday I had all the Florida birds I had wanted to photograph except the Florida Scrub Jay, so I drove down to the Helen and Allen Cruickshank Sanctuary in Rockledge. My daughter Sally and friends had had close encounters with the Jay there the week before, and I had not heard of any sightings this year on Scrub Ridge Trail at Merritt Island, where I have seen and photographed them in previous years. The Sanctuary parking lot was flooded, but I found enough dry ground to park at one edge. It was my first visit and I did not know what to expect. The sanctuary is basically a few acres of scrub surrounded by suburban sprawl, with a few tall pines. The trail is like a balloon with a dangling string. You walk up the string and around the balloon. I walked all the way around the balloon and only saw three Jays…and none closer than 50 yards. Sigh! When I got back to the string I decided I had one more loop in me, and turned back to walk the balloon the other direction. Right away I saw two big birds sitting in a tall pine beside the trail. Osprey. I was able to get some nice shots of the pair. Then, just by the observation platform I head the unmistakable music of Jays in bush. You would only call it music if you really wanted to see Jays, but there it is, and I did. I tracked down the first Jay of the group well hidden in a bush about 10 feet in from the trail, but then two hopped out on the sandy trail looking for fallen berries and seeds on either side of me, and again 10 feet away. This was more like it! Eventually a Jay came and sat up in plain sight and posed at about 8 feet and eye-level…so close I could not fit the whole bird in the frame at 600mm. And here you have it. Sony RX10iv at 513mm equivalent. My birds and wildlife modifications to Program mode. 1/800th @ f4 @ ISO 100. +.3EV. Processed in Polarr.