16 Oct2015
Written by Ruth Hoyt. Posted in Birds, Blog
I spent several days guiding photographers this week, two days on the Jones Alta Vista Ranch and two at the Laguna Seca Ranch. I’ll be sharing what I think are unusual photos from both places, but today I’m starting with two photos I took of a Green Jay at the Laguna Seca.
I clipped and set up a native vegetation perch I thought would attract Green Jays and other local birds. As the sun sank lower into the sky, the grassy field in the far background behind the perch glowed shades of light gold and green.
The bird appeared out of the brush and jumped down onto the perch, facing away from us. Excited about the photo opportunity but not thrilled with the bird facing away, I made a few images. Suddenly, the jay seemed to notice the sound of the shutters and it cast a glance our way. The magic happened and the composition came to life.
My only real challenge is deciding which photos I liked best. Here are my two favorites; let me know which you like best and why. Remember to click on the images to see the full version of the photos!
A Green Jay looks back over its shoulder toward the photographers.
A Green Jay faces away from the photographers, showing the color of its head.
23 Apr2015
Written by Ruth Hoyt. Posted in Birds, Blog
Green Jays are no different than any other species, in the way that they have a “longing for belonging.” I enjoy observing them as they entertain me with their antics, and this pair on the Laguna Seca Ranch proved to be very entertaining. The one on the left seemed to be trying to convince the one on the right to accept him as a friend or mate. However, the intended friend (or mate) played the part of a coy character and would only let him get so close before hopping away or flying elsewhere. Be sure to click on the photo to see the complete image.
Green Jay Invitation
16 Apr2015
Written by Ruth Hoyt. Posted in Birds, Blog
I was thrilled to capture a series of images of a Green Jay while photographing on the Laguna Seca Ranch this evening. The jay was calmly perched on a dead tree limb, but suddenly it noticed a Summer Tanager in the brush and fluffed itself out as much as possible. I assume this behavior was to create an illusion of being larger than what it actually was. The jay relaxed slightly a couple of times but then re-fluffed, which gave me plenty of chances to test my camera’s frame rate and buffer! (Canon EOS 7D Mark II, 300mm f/2.8 lens + 1.4x extender, ISO 1600, 1/4oo sec @ f/5.0)
A Green Jay fluffs out to make itself appear larger.
06 Apr2015
Written by Ruth Hoyt. Posted in Blog
ALERT: Anytime you visit deep south Texas, you may come across some of these green characters! I saw plenty of them today while guiding photographers on the Laguna Seca Ranch in Hidalgo County.
This morning I made photographs of two of the three Green Jays on this little perch with my Canon 7D Mark II, 300mm f/2.8 lens and 1.4x extender. If I hadn’t had the extender on, or if I had been using my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, I may have been able to capture the image my eyes saw, of the three of them in a tic-tac-toe formation.
You may notice the birds have wet tails. It rained yesterday and during the night, so everything was very wet when we began photographing. The skies were heavily overcast most of the morning and, except for me, the photographers all used fill flash.
Tomorrow we plan to work on some flight shots early, then move to the raptor blind to see what kind of action we can find!
Green Jays (Cyanocorax yncas)
