A pair of jays visit the garden

I'd just returned home after picking Helena up from work this afternoon when I saw an unusual shape in the sycamore tree at the bottom of the garden. I suggested to Helena that it might be a jay as I picked up my camera from the dining room table. I'd put it there earlier when I was wondering what I might blip.

As I prepared the camera and opened the sliding patio doors the jay flew away and I saw another join it.  But neither of them flew far and within a minute they'd returned to the sycamore tree and were obviously looking carefully at the scene in the garden with the small birds feeding at will closer to the house.

I managed to get a couple of shots of one jay perched, but most of the shots had branches in the way, which is typical of jays who are very private and seldom reveal themselves like this. Then it flew away about twenty yards to a hazel tree, where it perched briefly, and then flew back towards our garden. I caught it's flight but the focus wasn't exact and it was a bit far away from me. But I have added one of the shots showing the beauty of the jay's outstretched wings and the unique patterning of the blue in the feathers.