The closer you can get to a bird the better and more exquisitely detailed the photograph. My wife and I spend a week each year fishing at Lake Mary at Mammoth Lakes, CA. Her brother often joins us. I told him I would like the get some close up pictures of the Steller's Jays Cyanocitta stelleri and Clarke's Nutcrackers so common in the area. I planned to put some bread crumbs on the banister just a few feet from the camera tripod. This plan was greeted with considerable skepticism but five minutes later both birds were vying for the crumbs a few feet away. The Western Scrub Jay Aphelocoma californica was photographed in our backyard.