New friends from the kitchen

One of the pleasures of our kitchen is the view of the bird table. We have feeders around the garden, but it's nice to be able to glance out and see what's around the table. By the time I get home from work the light is getting a bit low - especially with the weather of the last few days - and as usual the windows could be a little cleaner, but you can get some snaps even so.
The jackdaws come in varying numbers through the year, but at present it can be like a scene from 'The Birds' as they come in to wait for a feed.

The best bit is watching the juveniles come down, hanging around like teenagers on the street corner in the hope that someone (anyone) will come and give them a feed.

One of house sparrows was keen to get in on the act as well .......

but over the last few days we've had some new species coming down. The wood pigeon often sits around on the telephone wires, but this is the first time it's had an explore in the garden - perhaps the 'meadow' style of our lawn at the moment is proving an added attraction (give me a break - it keeps raining at the weekends!)

An even more unusual sighting for us has been this jay.

I'm hoping it will stick around so I can try and get some direct shots against a better background, (if it is ever dry again at weekends I might get the hide out) but for now I'll make do with these record snaps of our new pal.