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Western Scrub Jay

I have noticed that when I go to the bird blind at the Pedernales Falls State Park that there are bird species that dominate the entire area. The park volunteers show up around 8:30AM to put out bird seed and suet for the birds. They also refill the hummingbird feeders with sugar-water. I photographed this Western Scrub Jay while he was being disruptive and gorging on suet as the volunteer was still putting out food for them. Other disruptive animals include White-winged Doves,  some male Northern Cardinals, and of course, Fox Squirrels. These animals scare away smaller, more timid birds like the Painted Bunting.

Many bird blinds mix their own suet. The main ingredients include solid fats (such as lard), rolled oats, bird seed, cornmeal, raisins and unsalted nuts. Sometimes they make “cakes” but most often they drill holes in old stumps and stuff the cavities with the mixture. This is what the Park does. Not all birds are attracted to suet. I have noticed that the species that frequent the suet feeders include woodpeckers, cardinals, thrushes, jays, kinglets, chickadees, wrens and starlings.

Western Scrub Jay
Western Scrub Jay

This image was taken with my Canon EOS 5DS using my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 II Lens set on 400mm. The camera was set on Aperture priority mode with the aperture set at f/6.3, shutter speed at 1/80th of a second and the ISO set at 400. This is a single photograph processed in Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro.

You can view my Birds of Texas collection by clicking here. Please use the section below to post your comments, questions, or suggestions.

T. Kahler Photography
© 2016 T. Kahler Photography

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