A Morning with Nuthatches and Jays

I regularly visit the feeding station in a local woodland to photograph the birds visiting it.  We are very fortunate in Grimsby to get nuthatches here which is fairly unusual on the east side of the country   They are both a challenge and a joy to photograph.  However, jays are also present in the wood but generally they are extremely wary and shy birds, which do not come down regularly to the feeders.  The recent cold weather has made them less cautious and yesterday I was lucky enough to have five birds down at once.  Some images are shown below.  All shots were taken with a 500mm lens.  As a fast shutter speed  was required to stop movement I had to use f4 and ISO 1000.  I was delighted that I didn't need to use my noise reduction software.

Nuthatches are attracted with peanuts and sunflower seeds.  They also like fat mixed with ground peanuts.

They tend to scuttle headfirst down a tree and pop out for the food where you are not expecting.

A classic Jay pose.  This bird has just been driven off the peanuts by a rival and its crest is raised in a threat posture.

I'm not greedy, I'm just trying to see how many peanuts I can get into my beak!