Featured Work
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Going Down by BigD
Best View Larger! Featured in First Things group. / Featured in ImageWriting group. / Featured in 300+ Go Long! group. Taken in my backyard at the feeder. There was at least 20 bluejays feeding at the feeder and there was at least 30 mourning doves on the ground feeding as well. Even a gray squirrel was feeding there too. Canon 50D / Canon 400mm lens / Shutter Speed 1/750sec / Aperture-f-5.6 / ISO 400 Cool Facts / Thousands of Blue Jays migrate in flocks along the Great Lakes and Atlantic coasts, but much about their migration remains a mystery. Some are present throughout winter in all parts of their range. Young jays may be more likely to migrate than adults, but many adults also migrate. Some individual jays migrate south one year, stay north the next winter, and then migrate south again the next year. No one has worked out why they migrate when they do. / Blue Jays are known to take and eat eggs and nestlings of other birds, but we don’t know how common this is. In an extensive study of Blue Jay feeding habits, only 1% of jays had evidence of eggs or birds in their stomachs. Most of their diet was composed of insects and nuts. / The Blue Jay frequently mimics the calls of hawks, especially the Red-shouldered Hawk. These calls may provide information to other jays that a hawk is around, or may be used to deceive other species into believing a hawk is present. / Tool use has never been reported for wild Blue Jays, but captive Blue Jays used strips of newspaper to rake in food pellets from outside their cages. / Blue Jays lower their crests when they are feeding peacefully with family and flock members or tending to nestlings. / At feeders in Florida, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Florida Scrub-Jays, Common Grackles, and gray squirrels strongly dominate Blue Jays, often preventing them from obtaining food. / The pigment in Blue Jay feathers is melanin, which is brown. The blue color is caused by scattering light through modified cells on the surface of the feather barbs. / The black bridle across the face, nape, and throat varies extensively and may help Blue Jays recognize one another. / The oldest known wild, banded Blue Jay lived to be at least 17 years 6 months old. / Habitat ForestBlue Jays are found in all kinds of forests but especially near oak trees; they’re more abundant near forest edges than in deep forest. They’re common in urban and suburban areas, especially where oaks or bird feeders are found. Back to TopFood OmnivoreBlue Jays glean insects and take nuts and seeds in trees, shrubs, and on the ground; they also eat grains. They also take dead and injured small vertebrates. Blue Jays sometimes raid nests for eggs and nestlings, and sometimes pick up dead or dying adult birds. Stomach contents over the year are about 22 percent insect. Acorns, nuts, fruits, and grains made up almost the entire remainder. Of 530 stomachs examined, traces of bird eggs and nestlings were found in only 6 stomachs, although a search was specially made for every possible trace of bird remains. Blue Jays hold food items in feet while pecking them open. They store food in caches to eat later. Back to TopNesting / Nesting Facts / Clutch Size / 2–7 eggs / Egg Length / 1–1.3 in / 2.5–3.3 cm / Egg Width / 0.7–0.9 in / 1.8–2.2 cm / Incubation Period / 17–18 days / Nestling Period / 17–21 days / Egg Description / Bluish or light brown with brownish spots. / Condition at Hatching / Naked and helpless, eyes closed, mouth lining red.Nest Description / Open cup of twigs, grass, and sometimes mud, lined with rootlets. Nest Placement TreeBlue Jays build their nests in the crotch or thick outer branches of a deciduous or coniferous tree, usually 10-25 feet above the ground. Male and female both gather materials and build the nest, but on average male does more gathering and female more building. Twigs used in outer part of nest are usually taken from live trees, and birds often struggle to break them off. Birds may fly great distances to obtain rootlets from recently dug ditches, fresh graves in cemeteries, and newly fallen trees. Jays may abandon their nest after detecting a nearby predator. © Isidor Jeklin / CLO / Back to TopBehavior Ground ForagerThis common, large songbird is familiar to many people, with its perky crest; blue, white, gray, and black plumage; and noisy calls. Blue Jays are known for their intelligence and complex social systems, and have tight family bonds. They often mate for life, remaining with their social mate throughout the year. Only the female incubates; her mate provides all her food during incubation. For the first 8–12 days after the nestlings hatch, the female broods them and the male provides food for his mate and the nestlings. Female shares food gathering after this time, but male continues to provide more food than female. Some individual nestlings begin to wander as far as 15 feet from the nest 1-3 days before the brood fledges. Even when these birds beg loudly, parents may not feed them until they return to the nest; this is the stage at which many people find an “abandoned baby jay.” If it can be restored to or near the nest, the parents will resume feeding it. The brood usually leaves the nest together usually when they are 17-21 days old. When young jays leave the nest before then, it may be because of disturbance. The jays are usually farther than 75 feet from the nest by the end of the second day out of the nest. Young remain with and are fed by their parents for at least a month, and sometimes two months. There is apparently a lot of individual variation in how quickly young become independent. Blue Jays communicate with one another both vocally and with “body language,” using their crest. When incubating, feeding nestlings, or associating with mate, family, or flock mates, the crest is held down; the lower the crest, the lower the bird’s aggression level. The higher the crest, the higher the bird’s aggression level; when a Blue Jay squawks, the crest is virtually always held up. Blue Jays have a wide variety of vocalizations, with an immense “vocabulary.” Blue Jays are also excellent mimics. Captive Blue Jays sometimes learn to imitate human speech and meowing cats. In the wild, they often mimic Red-shouldered and Red-tailed hawks, and sometimes other species. Blue Jays are disliked by many people for their aggressive ways, but they are far less aggressive than many other species. In one Florida study, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Florida Scrub-Jays, Common Grackles, and gray squirrels strongly dominates Blue Jays at feeders, often preventing them from obtaining food, and Northern Bobwhites, Mourning Doves, White-winged Doves, Northern Mockingbirds, and Northern Cardinals occasionally dominated them as well. Sometimes Blue Jays mimic hawks when approaching feeders. This may deceive other birds into scattering, allowing the Blue Jay to take over the feeder, but most birds quickly return after the jay starts feeding. Blue Jays carry food in their throat and upper esophagus—an area often called a “gular pouch.” They may store 2-3 acorns in the pouch, another one in their mouth, and one more in the tip of the bill. In this way they can carry off 5 acorns at a time to store for later feeding. Six birds with radio transmitters each cached 3,000-5,000 acorns one autumn. Their fondness for acorns and their accuracy in selecting and burying acorns that have not been infested with weevils are credited with spreading oak trees after the last glacial period. Despite being common, conspicuous birds that have been studied by many researchers, much about Blue Jays remains a mystery. This is the only New World jay that migrates north and south, and large flocks are observed flying over many hawkwatch spots, along shorelines, and at other migration overlooks, but their migration is very poorly understood. Some individuals remain year-round throughout their entire range, and at least some individuals depart during spring throughout their entire range except peninsular Florida. Migrating flocks can include adults and young birds, and recent analyses of movements of banded jays indicate that there is no age difference between jays that migrate and jays that remain resident. The proportion of jays that migrate is probably less than 20 percent. Back to TopConservation / status via IUCN / Least ConcernBlue Jays do well around humans, and their populations are secure. The most frequent cause of death associated with humans comes from attacks by cats and dogs. Credit given to, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
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MAN I'M BUSHED by Chuck Wickham
SHOT IN CADES COVE,GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK,TENNESSEE. CANON F-1,300MM LENS,BOGEN TRI-POD,F-5.6@1/60
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Tule Lake Bobcat - 16339 by BartElder
Bobcat in the Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge in Northern California Camera EXIF Information Model – Canon EOS 40D / Software – Digital Photo Professional / DateTime – 2008:12:28 16:23:24 / Artist – Bart Elder / WhitePoint – 0.31 / Copyright – All Rights Reserved: Bart Elder / ExposureTime – 1/400 seconds / FNumber – 7.10 / ISOSpeedRatings – 400 / DateTimeOriginal – 2008:12:28 16:23:24 / ShutterSpeedValue – 1/395 seconds / ApertureValue – F 7.03 / ExposureBiasValue – 0.67 / Flash – Flash not fired, compulsory flash mode / FocalLength – 400 mm / ExposureMode – Auto / White Balance – Auto / Macro mode – Off / Self timer – Off / Quality – Fine / Flash mode – Not fired / Easy shooting mode – Full Auto / Metering mode – Center weighted averaging / White Balance – Auto / Owner Name – Bart Elder
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A Proud Mother by David Friederich
Featured in Dimensions, Nirvana, Canadiana, Eagles Only, and 300+ Go Long. In this fourth shot of my bald eagles’ nest series, the mother bald eagle has just joined her two young at the end of the day. The whole family sleeps together in two large coniferous trees. In the two weeks I have been shooting and observing at the nest, “dad” always arrives last at the end of the day. Soon the young fledged eagles will be on their own, completely abandoned by their parents. In this shot, she is certainly giving me the eye, as she hides herself within the protective bows of fir tree next to the nesting tree. Captured on the Fraser River in Delta, British Columbia, using a Nikon D300 and Nikkor f4 600 mm lens, on a Gitzo tripod, ISO 640, -0.33 EV, f4, 1/100s.
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Great Blue Heron posing by Larry Grayam
A Great Blue Heron poses near the water at St. Lucie County Florida USA’s Savannahs Indrio Environmentally sensitive lands preserve. Nikon F3 300mm lens 1/500sec f5.6 EI50 Velvia “Great Blue Heron posing” was featured in 300+ Go Long 11/14/09 /
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MOUNTAIN STREAM by Chuck Wickham
SHOT ON NEWFOUND GAP ROAD,GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK,NORTH CAROLINA. / CANON REBEL XSi,75-300MM LENS,POLARIZER,MIRROR LOCKED UP,BOGEN TRI-POD,F-16@2 SEC.
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spoonbills by kathy s gillentine
As I waited for the sun to rise I found a flock of spoonbills at the shore line in Estero Bay, Florida, just as it was starting to get light . best viewed large / canon 40D / canon 400mm / ISO 1000 / 1/250 f/5.6 /
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Big Horn Sheep - 9330 by BartElder
Bighorn Sheep in SouthEastern Oregon near Paisley Oregon. Camera EXIF Information Model – Canon EOS 40D / Software – Digital Photo Professional / Artist – Bart Elder / Copyright – Bart Elder / ExifOffset – 405 / ExposureTime – 1/320 seconds / FNumber – 10 / ISOSpeedRatings – 250 / DateTimeOriginal – 2008:05:07 10:24:06 / ShutterSpeedValue – 1/332 seconds / ApertureValue – F 9.93 / ExposureBiasValue – 0 / Flash – Flash not fired, compulsory flash mode / FocalLength – 400 mm / ExposureMode – Auto / White Balance – Auto / Metering mode – Center weighted averaging / Focus type – Auto
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Cruise Ship Balcony Reflections by Rosalie Scanlon
As we were leaving Miami, I happened to look at a Cruise Ship as we were going by and noticed the reflections on the balconies. Thought I would share the unusual view. Image taken in Miami, Florida with my Nikon Coolpix P80 Camera. Taken with my 18X lens on longest setting.
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"Varied Thrush, Autumn Leaves" by Martin Smart
Best viewed large Featured in “300+ Go Long!” November 2009 / Featured in “Songbirds of North America” November 2009 Photographed in Lantzville, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. / The Varied thrush is a member of the Turdidae (thrush) family and breeds in western North America from Alaska to northern California. Its breeding habitat is dense coniferous forest, and two to five eggs are laid in a nest in a tree. / The Varied Thrush mainly feeds near the ground, where it forages for invertebrates, but will also eat berries and certain seeds. / The male has a striking appearance, being dark blue-gray above with bright orange wing bars, throat, lateral head stripe and underparts. It also has a black breast band and face mask. The female and juvenile birds are browner above and the orange is less striking with the breast band and face mask being a blotchy brown. Canon 40D / 1/100sec f8 ISO 400 / 500mm lens + 1.4x converter
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Momma Loves Me by Gary Lengyel
Mountain goats on Mt. Evans, Colorado. This kid is only 3 weeks old and already jumping amongst the rocks. Nikon D200, Nikkor 70-300 VR lens
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Bald Eagles with Prey by David Friederich
Featured in 300+ Go Long. A mated pair of bald eagles hover over a mallard duck the female has captured. The male, who is smaller than his mate, will have to wait his turn for a meal from the carcass. The image was captured on Canada’s southwest coast near Vancouver in British Columbia, using a Nikon D700, a Nikkor f4 600 mm lens and 1:4 teleconverter. Camera settings: ISO 800, -0.67 EV, f14, 1/800s.
Recent Work
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butterfly delight by kathy s gillentine
While out shooting with Gouzel , Liz and Gina on Sanibel Island ,Florida we found many butterflies as well as birds that day. Best viewed large / Canon 40D / canon 400mm / ISO 100 / 1/640 f5.6 /
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between the lines by Aimelle
featured thank you ! Color me a rainbow (Oct. 22nd, 2009) / . / / . / . / DSLR Sony A-100 + Sigma 70-300mm APO macro lens / location: Rawdon, Quebec (Canada)
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HOMEWARD BOUND #2 by RakeshSyal
Captured this image at Gohana, India. It was clowdy and almost sunset. Suddenly the rays appeared, it was my good luck. Nikon D200 Lens, Nikkor 70-300
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Sushi by noffi
An egret proudly shows off its catch…a shrimp straight from the lagoon.. Sanibel island, Florida. Canon 40D / Lens: 100-400mm
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Anhinga in "Ding" Darling Wildlife Refuge by noffi
A foggy morning in the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Refuge in Florida made the birds hard to find but this anhinga was high in a tree quietly waiting…,,Perhaps for the sun to dry her feathers. Canon 40D / Lens 100-400mm
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Butterfly Life by Kelly Robinson
Canon 40D 300mm
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Nevada Mustangs by Arla M. Ruggles
A small band of wild horses graze in a burned area, taking refuge in pinon thickets / / Lincoln County, NV / (2009.OCT.29) Please support American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign RedBubble Album: Horses Of The High Desert Canon 350D EOS / Sigma 70-300mm Corel PhotoImpact x3
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Lunch Time by William C. Gladish
Great blue heron in flight carrying a fish, razor sharp and clear image using large file size. Beautiful T-shirts with different colors and styles are also available with this image: Lunch Time Location: Hidden River, Florida Canon 40D camera, Canon 500mm IS 4.0 Lens, Tripod with Ballhead Mount. For discussion of shutter speed, f-stop, available light, and my technique, please visit my profile page…thank you :-)
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Sanibel Island Light by kathy s gillentine
In 1856, the Lighthouse Board recommended a beacon be established on Sanibel Island to light the port, but no action was taken. After the Civil War, another request for the lighthouse was made in 1878. Sanibel Island, Florida captured at sunrise / The lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Canon 40D / canon 400mm / ISO 250 / 1/60 f11 / exposure bias -0.3 /
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nothing else matters by Alex Marks
North Avalon on a crisp Autumn morning, had the surfing community impressed… Canon 20D – 300mm
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THE CHIMNEY TOPS AND CLOUDS by Chuck Wickham
SHOT FROM MORTON OVERLOOK,GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK,TENNESSEE. CANON REBEL XSi,75-300MM LENS,POLARIZER,REMOTE RELEASE,MIRROR LOCKED UP,BOGEN TRI-POD,F-16@1/60
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Flying High by noffi
A pelican cruises over the San Carlos Bay, Florida looking for a gourmet meal. Canon 40D / Lens 100-400 mm / F:5.6 / Shutter: 1/2500 / ISO 400 $00mm
About This Group
This site will be dedicated to those who shoot with telephoto lenses 300 millimeters or larger. Zooms are OK as long as the reach or exceed 300mm. We will encourage the use of imagination – just so the picture is not of poor quality – blown highlights or the like. Wildlife is fine, but what else do you do with that big guy?
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