I spent even more hours in the "Hazel-hide" in two sessions today, trying really hard to capture a special photograph.  Things are coming along nicely, again I had both male and female Jays, not actually feeding together but they were within minutes of each other suggesting that they were loosely moving around the wood together. I moved  the feeding log back just a couple of feet  which meant that I could capture all of the bird in the frame of the camera. I have been formulating a plan to get a photo in full flight which I am sure will work well, that's my quest for the next week or so. I am going to position another feeding post/log at the same hight as the other but 10 foot apart. I am sure that if I put a few peanuts on one log, and more on the other, I should be able to get the bird to fly in a straight "flight-path" from one log to the next  giving me the chance to pre-focus on the flight line and photograph the bird in flight. 

I try to make my day wothwhile by learning something new, or discovering a small piece of behaviour and today I managed to sperate both Jays visibly so that when one was in front of me I could tell which was the male and which was the female. The bird has a very nasty beak which has a slight 'overshot" hook, quite a noticeable feature.The female has a smaller head, smaller and more rounded beak and a less aggressive look all around, These photos  show the difference.

The male showing the small hook on the book, just an anomoly of this individual.

The female, no hooked beak and a softer look about her.