The commotion out on the patio caught my attention this morning as a concerned parent scrub jay squawked loudly and flitted nervously in the branches of the xylosma. There, perched on one of the shrub’s thin branchlets was a baby scrub jay, possibly out on its first foray from the nest. A hummingbird was aggressively asserting its disapproval of this new bird in the area, hovering inches away from the young bird. But, although I had already affixed the 300mm and 1.4X teleconverter to the D5 in anticipation of getting some hummingbird shots, this scenario eluded me. I did get a couple of shots of the baby jay on the branch through the open patio door. Then I watched as this little bird crash landed onto the fountain and stared at the bubble with fascination. But, when I stepped out onto the patio in the hopes of photographing its first bath, it launched itself awkwardly into the azalea behind the fountain and disappeared from sight.
