{"id":166269,"date":"2026-01-03T04:41:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T10:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=166269"},"modified":"2026-01-03T04:41:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T10:41:41","slug":"winter-blue-jay-in-a-river-birch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/03\/winter-blue-jay-in-a-river-birch\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Blue Jay In A River Birch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BlueBlue Jay in a River Birch \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 1000, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On New Year\u2019s Day I was outside photographing birds feeding on suet balls I had placed in the crooks of a River Birch, including this striking Blue Jay.<\/p>\n

It was bright and sunny, the temps were cool but not frigid, and bird activity was hopping. I didn\u2019t feel like driving back to the refuge since it had been fairly crowded and frustrating on New Year\u2019s Eve.<\/p>\n

I missed seeing Blue Jays in the decade and a half that I lived in Utah. Actually, I had only one good session with this jay species while I lived there and that was in the dead of winter at someones feeder set up in the city.<\/p>\n

With the vehicle and foot traffic of a busy urban setting in Salt Lake City, it wasn\u2019t a very relaxing session at all.<\/p>\n

But here, on New Year\u2019s Day, it was relaxing and productive. This Blue Jay didn\u2019t seem bothered by my presence and came in to the suet balls to stuff her or his bill.<\/p>\n

Seeing Blue Jays<\/span><\/a> daily here has made me happy. I appreciate their vibrant beauty, loud calls, and interesting behaviors even more now than I ever did before.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

On New Year\u2019s Day I was outside photographing birds feeding on suet balls I had placed in the crooks of a River Birch, including this striking Blue Jay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166265,"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":[27,13602,13973,17051],"tags":[4004,17053,13624,13604,3194,13603,13981,6792,2714,10627,17052,15824,14247,4427,10660,373,13966],"class_list":["post-166269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-blue-jays","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-county","tag-adult","tag-betula-nigra","tag-birch","tag-blue-jay","tag-corvids","tag-cyanocitta-cristata","tag-feeder","tag-jay","tag-jays","tag-new-year","tag-river-birch","tag-suburban","tag-suet","tag-tree","tag-tree-trunk","tag-winter","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/blue-jay-suet-mia-mcpherson-3808.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-HfL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":166556,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/08\/winter-tufted-titmouse-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":166269,"position":0},"title":"Winter Tufted Titmouse Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"I sat outside yesterday in my camping chair determined to take a few bird photos and was able to get a few Tufted Titmouse images when they came into a River Birch in the yard.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Tufted Titmouse on a River Birch tree trunk, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/tufted-tutmouse-river-birch-mia-mcpherson-4098.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/tufted-tutmouse-river-birch-mia-mcpherson-4098.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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breakfast, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/northern-cardinal-sequoyah-county-mia-mcpherson-4093.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/northern-cardinal-sequoyah-county-mia-mcpherson-4093.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/northern-cardinal-sequoyah-county-mia-mcpherson-4093.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/northern-cardinal-sequoyah-county-mia-mcpherson-4093.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113924,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/06\/22\/young-blue-jay-upside-down-at-a-feeder\/","url_meta":{"origin":166269,"position":2},"title":"Young Blue Jay Upside Down At A Feeder","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Given how odd spring has been for me personally, it seemed appropriate for me to photograph a young Blue Jay hanging upside down on the first day of summer.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Blue Jay upside down portrait, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/blue-jay-young-upside-down-portrait-mia-mcpherson-1483.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/blue-jay-young-upside-down-portrait-mia-mcpherson-1483.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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pear tree, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-jay-spring-arkansas-pair-mia-mcpherson-7931.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-jay-spring-arkansas-pair-mia-mcpherson-7931.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-jay-spring-arkansas-pair-mia-mcpherson-7931.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-jay-spring-arkansas-pair-mia-mcpherson-7931.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113747,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/06\/11\/blue-jay-portrait-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":166269,"position":4},"title":"Blue Jay Portrait In Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"For some people, a Blue Jay portrait might be a common image to capture, but for me, it's not common at all. 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