The wonderful bluebells in Standish Woods

I picked Helena up from her work at tea time as planned and I drove us up to Standish Woods.  They are ancient woodlands straddling the top of the Cotswold escarpment just at the entrance to Stroud's Five Valleys which form a unique hinterland to the limestone ridge.

I had been there recently to photograph the bluebells for which these woods are renowned locally, but they had only just started to flower.  Helena wanted to see them and I had heard yesterday from John who lives nearby that they were at their best.  So we had a short walk just a few hundred yards into the woods and each of us took a range of pictures.

Helena was very tired so we decided to head home quite early but with the intention of coming back at the weekend for a longer exploration.  As we turned to go I spotted a jay flying around the woods  in the distance and immediately wanted to watch it.  Helena headed back to the car and I walked slowly to where I had last seen it perch.  It had hopped about in short bursts of flight and I was surprised that it hadn't disappeared completely as they are very shy birds.

I saw it again and prepared my camera, although regretted having changed from my longer reach zoom earlier in the day.  I stood still and saw it fly again, then land, and then it flew towards me through a glade and I tried to get it in flight.  I was amazed when it came straight towards me and landed on a tree branch quite close to me and just looked at me as if to check me out.  It stayed there for about a minute and then flew off back the way it came.  

What a delightful surprise.  When I checked the pictures a few had come out so I am adding a couple here today as my extra shots.  One of them is shows its full wing span spread out in order to land on the branch, which is quite amazing to see.