{"id":119598,"date":"2024-01-10T04:43:06","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T11:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=119598"},"modified":"2024-01-10T04:43:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T11:43:06","slug":"urban-birds-woodhouses-scrub-jay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/10\/urban-birds-woodhouses-scrub-jay\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban Birds – Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three years ago today, I photographed this adult Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay from my living room window. The jay was in a neighbor’s spruce tree across the street.<\/p>\n

\"UrbanUrban Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay in a spruce tree \u2013 Nikon D500, handheld, f7.1, 1\/125, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier that morning, I had photographed an adult Bald Eagle in a different tree in the same neighbor’s yard. That was pretty thrilling, but I was just as thrilled to photograph this scrub-jay.<\/p>\n

A bird is a bird, is a bird to me, and I am happy when I have them in my viewfinder, even in urban settings.<\/p>\n

The spruce tree that the jay was perched in, is no longer there. Last year, the neighbors needed to have the tree removed because it had overgrown their yard and was causing damage to a nearby driveway.<\/p>\n

Since the tree was removed, I miss seeing that conifer and the birds that sheltered and nested in it, but I completely understand why it had to go.<\/p>\n

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I didn’t have great light to photograph this scrub-jay. My tripod was in the back of my Jeep, so I had to handhold my heavy gear to take this image. Fortunately, I was able to brace my lens against the living room window frame for stability since I had such a slow shutter speed.<\/p>\n

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I don’t have as many photos of this scrub-jay species as I would like to have. I see them most frequently in the Wasatch Mountains and Stansbury Mountain range out west. In the past, I enjoyed being able to see them at home too. I’ve only heard them once since fall at home.<\/p>\n

When the current stormy weather clears, I should head out West to find more of these striking scrub-jays.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Woodhouse\u2019s Scrub-Jay photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three years ago today, I photographed this adult Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay from my living room window. The jay was in a neighbor’s spruce tree across the street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,709,26,2710],"tags":[4004,2712,6577,5237,3194,6792,2714,4104,6793,5264,5429,4427,8018,373,2711],"class_list":["post-119598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","category-woodhouses-scrub-jays","tag-adult","tag-aphelocoma-woodhouseii","tag-branches","tag-conifer","tag-corvids","tag-jay","tag-jays","tag-perched","tag-scrub-jay","tag-scrub-jays","tag-spruce","tag-tree","tag-urban","tag-winter","tag-woodhouses-scrub-jay"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/western-scrub-jay-urban-tree-mia-mcpherson-5094.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-v70","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16241,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/10\/23\/woodhouses-scrub-jay-perched-on-an-oak\/","url_meta":{"origin":119598,"position":0},"title":"Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay perched on an oak","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month I was able to photograph this Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay on my way up to Cascade Springs in Wasatch County, Utah as it perched on an oak near the road.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Woodhouse\u2019s Scrub-Jay perched on an oak, Cascade Springs, Wasatch National Forest, Wasatch County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-perched-mia-mcpherson-9726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-perched-mia-mcpherson-9726.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-perched-mia-mcpherson-9726.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34915,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/18\/woodhouses-scrub-jay-in-ophir-canyon\/","url_meta":{"origin":119598,"position":1},"title":"Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay in Ophir Canyon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A couple Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays in Ophir Canyon Road in Tooele County were the most cooperative of the jays that I found.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay perched on a snow covered Pinyon Pine, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-adult-mia-mcpherson-4453.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-adult-mia-mcpherson-4453.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-adult-mia-mcpherson-4453.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-adult-mia-mcpherson-4453.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40401,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/07\/08\/woodhouses-scrub-jay-a-familiar-bird-with-a-new-name\/","url_meta":{"origin":119598,"position":2},"title":"Woodhouse\u2019s Scrub-Jay – A Familiar Bird with a New Name","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The long-awaited Scrub-Jay split has officially happened! Western Scrub-Jay can be crossed out in a our fields guides and the two new names California Scrub-Jay and Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay can be penciled in.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Woodhouse\u2019s Scrub-Jay adult, Cascade Springs, Wasatch National Forest, Wasatch County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-adult-mia-mcpherson-9728.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-adult-mia-mcpherson-9728.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/western-scrub-jay-adult-mia-mcpherson-9728.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"October 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Wild Turkeys and the Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay made the very bumpy and extremely dusty ride into the mountain canyons well worth taking.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Woodhouse\u2019s Scrub-Jay in the West Desert, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/woodhouses-scrub-jay-in-juniper-mia-mcpherson-5214.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/woodhouses-scrub-jay-in-juniper-mia-mcpherson-5214.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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