Locations
Yellowstone
Mountain Jay
Parked in a section of dense forest, the jays are very experienced at stealing food off of the table in front of you. It doesn't take long to figure out that this is a photo opportunity.
While not in the same photographic league as Ospreys, these birds are very beautiful in their own way. Don't think that the birds friendliness makes them an easy photographic target. The dense forest cover creates a nice exposure challenge. There often is insufficient foreground light and the background can be dark and uninspiring. Using a 500 mm lens, getting the focus right, especially the eyes, in particularly difficult.
The image at left had sufficient front light and background light to achieve what I had in mind. There was also a little light reflected off of the eyes which is almost mandatory for all types of bird photography.