Bill Thornton from Warnham said he captured the image of this handsome jay at Warnham Nature Reserve on Thursday, November 28.
Bill told this newspaper: “A Jay drops in at Warnham Nature Reserve for food, but its eye is on the camera.”
According to Michael Blencowe, senior learning and engagement officer at Sussex Wildlife Trust, Sussex naturalist W.H. Hudson referred to the jay as ‘the British Bird of Paradise’.
Michael said the bird, which is a member of the crow family, is common in the UK but lives ‘an elusive life’. He said: “The reason we see more Jays in the autumn is because they are busy. Jays are nuts about acorns and at that time of the year their favourite food is in plentiful supply.”
He added that Jays are colourful with ‘extravagant pink plumage, a drooping black moustache and a snazzy electric blue flash through the wings’.
1. Jay
Bill Thornton from Warnham said he captured the image of this jay at Warnham Nature Reserve Photo: Bill Thornton