19 Monday Sep 2022
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≈ Comments Off on Sitting quietly, with a Robin
Today was a very good day to sit quietly in a peaceful spot. And I was blessed with the company of this little Robin that came and spent some time with me. As we silently communed, overhead the air was alive with hundreds, perhaps thousands of Swallows and the occasional House martin, all feeding up before their miraculous migration.
11 Thursday Aug 2022
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≈ Comments Off on Old bird, new camera
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At last, I’ve been able to address the photographic gap that resulted when my 75-300mm lens stopped working a few months ago, though rather than simply replace the lens, I’ve opted for a new camera, a bridge camera with a 25-400mm lens, so I no longer have to lug about a camera body and multiple lenses (the details, if you’re interested, are on my ‘Resources’ page). I’m still adjusting, learning, experimenting, running on auto much of the time but, so far, I’m pleased with the images I’m getting and hugely delighted to be able to photograph my beloved birds, like this little Robin, once again.
24 Thursday Feb 2022
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≈ Comments Off on Peace
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Wishing you peace on this dark day!
25 Tuesday Jan 2022
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≈ Comments Off on Redbreast
Little Robin redbreast may look cheery but I’m sure it was feeling the icy easterly chill as much as I was today, judging by its fluffed-up feathers.
01 Wednesday Dec 2021
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≈ Comments Off on Hungry Robin
I felt guilty during yesterday’s meander around Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, my first there for a couple of weeks, as I’d gone without my backpack and so wasn’t carrying my usual small supply of bird seed. After the cooler temperatures of recent nights and the absence now of many insect species, the birds are already looking to passing humans for supplementary supplies. This Robin wasn’t the only little bird looking disappointed.
08 Thursday Jul 2021
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One of the things that makes this time of year special is all the young birds that are about, newly fledged but still clad in their teenage threads; learning to fend for themselves but still squawking at their parents for handouts; finding their way in the world, as this young Robin was yesterday.
02 Tuesday Mar 2021
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≈ Comments Off on 500!!!
In the world of social media, reaching 500 followers means I’m very small fry as a blogger but, to me personally, it’s a huge deal, and I just want to say a sincere ‘thank you’ to you all for supporting my attempts to share the beauty, the fascination, the mystery of the natural world around us. Your follows, likes and comments are all very much appreciated. Diolch!
07 Thursday Jan 2021
By ‘Round Robin’, I mean a Robin (bird) that looks round because it’s fluffed up all its feathers to increase trapped air to keep itself warm, as opposed to round-robin, a tournament where each contestant competes with every other contestant (rather than a knockout competition, where contestants get eliminated in stages, in, for example, a series of quarter- and semi-finals). And then I wondered if the two robins were somehow related but it turns out they’re not. According to Wikipedia, in round-robin the competition the word robin is a corruption of the French term ruban, which means ribbon, though, if you’re a word nut like me, you might like to check out The Phrase Finder website, which has even more interesting information about the origin of the term.
31 Thursday Dec 2020
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≈ Comments Off on 366/366 Transition
I consider this my best photo of 2020, partly for technical reasons – it’s sharp, the bird is looking at me, the background and composition are pleasing, but also because I caught this gorgeous wee Robin in a ‘between’ state, as it transitions from juvenile to adult, its head still showing the mottled beige and browns of its chick feathers but the first of its adult red breast feathers already present. And so this photo also seems appropriate for New Year’s Eve, as we humans transition from one calendar year to the next.
23 Monday Nov 2020
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It’s that time of year when the Robins fluff up their feathers and sing.
The facts, that the feather-fluffing is to keep them warm and the singing is part of what can be quite aggressive behaviour to establish winter territories, are completely lost on most humans, who are simply beguiled by their cuteness … as I was by this songster.
