ML512640091

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

I spent a full hour birding the trail between the parking lot and the island overlook (08:30-09:30) and then spent another half hour watching the feeders and talking with the volunteers east of the entrance road. When I returned to my car at the riverside parking lot (10:00), I was more than surprised to hear a long series of unmistakable Brown Jay calls coming from upriver (in the direction of the island overlook). I grabbed my camera and intercepted a flock of 5 jays about 100 m up the trail. I got good looks at the bills of three birds---all immatures with varying amounts of yellow at gape and/or base of bill. I followed them for several minutes until they moved out of range to the west on the arroyo (adjacent to the island overlook). They were definitely not in the area from 08:30 to 09:30. I lingered in the area for another hour with the hope of getting better photos but they never reappeared. I suspect this was a wandering family group traveling along the north bank of the river toward Falcon Dam.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 80D

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

640

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/7.1

Shutter speed

1/400 sec

Dimensions

1872 pixels x 1784 pixels

Original file size

1.42 MB