Camera-shy jay requires lots of patience

AT this time of the year, my camera should be busy capturing the racing action at point-to-point meetings across Devon and Cornwall. In fact, tomorrow would have been the penultimate fixture of the 2019-20 season at Bratton Down, high up on a now tinder dry Exmoor.

But, like most things, coronavirus has put rest to that. And it’s the same story for the agricultural shows, with the one-day show season following on once the pointing community have gone on their summer break.

So with no spring-loaded leaping thoroughbreds or handsome prizewinning bulls to photograph this summer, I have focused my lens on trying to get a shot of one of Irons Towers’ jumpy jays.

Since the start of the lockdown, these beautiful birds, with their eyecatching yet subtle pale pink, blue and white plumage, have become daily visitors to our garden and grown noticeably tamer. However, they’re still not too keen on having their picture taken ... too many clicks of the shutter and they’re hotfooting it back to the cover of the trees. It’s a whole different ballgame to what I am used to. For point-to-point, it’s a case of being fast enough (a matter of seconds) to start pressing at just the right time for that perfect mid-air jumping shot. At the agricultural shows, cows and sheep don’t move anywhere near as fast, but they’re not always the most cooperative when it comes to pricking their ears and ‘smiling’ for the camera!

‘Operation Jay’ is making solid progress, though, with the photo to your right being the pick of my latest shoot. Not too bad, I hope you will agree. Lying flat across my bed, with the camera at full 300mm zoom and just peeking through the slightly open window, I was granted five or six clicks of the shutter before this particular jay called time. But he didn’t go far and soon came back for another go at the suet balls, giving me a precious second opportunity to try and capture his best side.

With those dashing looks, I reckon he’s got real model potential.