This one comes with a story.

Whiskeyjacks (aka, Canada jays) are common in the mountains of North America. So, you'd think that I would have a picture of one, right?

It turns out that I have suffered the Curse of the Whiskeyjack. Whiskeyjacks who have posed for me have caused my camera batteries to die (twice), my memory card to fill (twice), the camera to die (once, but since repaired), my footing to slip, and so forth. So I have never caught one of the darned things on film except at very long range.

Until this one. On the Slough Creek Trail in Yellowstone NP, a well-behaved Whiskeyjack posed very nicely so that I could break the Curse of the Whiskeyjack in late September 2007.