So I went back to the Urban Forest center today to check on the status of the Bluejay nest. I'd thought that the eggs might be hatched by now, I was wrong. I'm not surprised, seeing how I have no clue about birds.

I found the tree and the nest easy enough, on my first pass, I scared the mom off. I was able to check the nest and saw that all the eggs were still in place. So far the squirrels have behaved.

I kept walking along the path and was able to get a shot of some red flowers (posted in my Not a PaD gallery) and a macro of a couple of bugs getting it on (in my macro gallery).

When I came back around, I noticed that the Bluejay mom had returned to her nest. I set up my 70-200 & my monopod from a safe distance, took a few shots. I would move the base of the monopod forward about a foot or so, then slowly lean forward, following the monopod. I was making a god-awful racket moving through the leaves and sticks. Somehow, I was able to get within a few feet of her before she startled. This shot wasn't the closest, I actually got too close and cropped out her beak in some of the later shots. I wanted to get the nest in frame, to give it context, otherwise it would be a closeup of a Bluejay's head.

I will try to pop back again sometime this week as we are coming up on a long weekend. Again, I have no clue about birds (though I do know this is a Bluejay). I really want to get a shot of the little guys in the nest though.

Here are the shots that didn't make today's PaD:



Here's the macro shot: