Fall River Photographer Captures Once-in-a-Lifetime Bird Photo

There's a saying that goes, "The early bird gets the worm." Except in this case, the bird got itself a free photoshoot.

I have to tell you, I've seen a lot of cool things in my life, but this one takes the cake.

Fall River photographer Mark Maxwell has accomplished something that few photographers have been lucky enough to do. I've seen photos of birds before in their natural habitat, but never have I seen a bird land on someone's hand who has a camera in the opposite one – and pose.

I reached out to Maxwell to find out when and how this bizarre yet mesmerizing situation occurred.

"The bluejay is a juvenile, I believe, they don't know any better," Maxwell said. "It was in a tree in my yard when it flew down and landed on the ground, so I put my fingers under its feet and it climbed onto my hand.

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Maxwell continued to take a couple more photos of the noble-looking bluejay before he put it back in the tree where its parent was looking on cautiously. This is the final result:

Maxwell's girlfriend just so happened to capture the moment on her phone so we could see the behind-the-scenes photo of this extraordinary experience.

"I've been doing wildlife photography for about six and a half years now," Maxwell said. "Raptors (birds of prey) are my favorite to photograph."

This isn't the first time Maxwell has been covered by the media; his work has made headlines over the fast few years and he always seems to be in the right spot at the right time.

If a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, a photo of that bird in the hand must be priceless.