A visiting Jay resting in the ash tree

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a flurry of motion in the ash tree art the bottom of our garden. When I looked up expectantly there was nothing out of the ordinary. A short while later I had the same impression but this time got my camera out and looked carefully at the trunk near the top of the tree.

I then saw an unmistakeable glimpse of blue feathers and realised that a jay had landed. I had seen one flying past the end of the garden some days ago, and remembered how last autumn they were regular visitors whilst carrying huge acorns in their mouths. It is common for them to stockpile acorns in the ground on selected sites and I think they carried them from large oak trees at the bottom of the valley up into their territory towards the top of the The Horns valley.

This jay stayed for about ten minutes and turned around on its perch several times, and looking at the various pictures I took I can see it looking directly at me as I stood in the back door of our house some way away. I was hoping to catch its flight when it finally took off, but it eventually flew away behind the branches of the tree so I couldn't get a good clear shot.