As ubiquitous as the blue jay is in much of this part of the world, I’ve taken relatively few photos of them in wild, especially when compared with many less common species. Early in my walk this morning at the Mercer Meadows Pole Farm, I spotted one sitting regally atop a tree and snapped away.
I’m pleased with the result.
Late this afternoon after a short rain shower passed through, I headed out to the Dyson Tract along the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and I got a surprise — from my camera.
As I walked out of the parking lot, I immediately spotted a plump Eastern phoebe in bushes along the canal. I raised the camera to focus but it wouldn’t fire. The camera screen showed a message that the SD card was locked.
I started searching the menu for a control to unlock the SD card, a situation I never anticipated or even knew was possible. Not finding anything in the menus, I used Google on my iPhone to search for a solution for my Canon camera. The answers said the lock control was on the card itself, so I pulled it out and tried to find it. No luck, so I headed back to the car and went to the backup card I keep in the vehicle.
The camera worked again, and after my walk I found the YouTube video below on how to salvage the card by wrapping a bit of cellophane tape on it. I had all my images downloaded from that card, and I’m not going to bother with trying to fix it. I’ll order a new one and thank my lucky stars that I was smart enough to keep that spare in the car.
The Jersey Birder 