first snow

 

I had arranged to meet my pal Michael and do a circuit at Warriston. He takes an interest in local parks and good places to go walks and has an excellent eye for making and tweaking images. We chatted about the horrors of social media and covid. He is not long over a fairly full-on bout of covid. I am trying to encourage him that he should do a blog to keep a diary of his cycles and the places he visits around the Lothians. Especially now he has all that extra time clawed back from non-facebooking! Go on Michael!

light covering of snow

Like Mary the day before, he passed the scrutiny and quality control of the wee robin. (Photo above) We discussed the nature of a nature that would bully all the other small birds and whether that was acceptable or not. It was a good catch up and better than exchanging a couple of lines via facebook, a thing Michael is giving up in favour of real life. I think he is going in the right direction as, like an awful lot of people, I daren't admit how much time I waste skimming through (or even adding to) the poisonous comments that are the stock in trade of facebook. It's why I'm not on Twitter. Although I am thinking about Instagram given my interest in visual art. And strava, though I am currently only running about 10 miles a week or fewer. 

Michael had to leave - it was cold hanging about doing not very much except admiring the birds in the sunshine. But the light really helps make great photos. Also a light dusting of snow had fallen overnight and helped boost reflected light. If I stood to the left of the feeding bricks I could just about get some white snowy background in the pics. Not quite snowy robin christmas card stuff though. As someone who dislikes that whole alcoholiday I don't know why I am chasing the cliches. 

The wet foliage and sunshine make this photo pop and I love the robin's pose. He looks like he is swaggering on stage. In reality he is looking up to the ivy to see who is trespassing that he has to keep in order. 

coal tit being shifted on by robin

snowy backdrop

Mostly these days it has just been the robin and several great tits (2 or 3?) and coal tits (2~5?). Occasional blue tits and 2 different dunnocks. The robin restricts their visits and they do not linger. So I stand or sit with the camera lens trained on the bricks. They seem to know me and I don't have to keep any sort of distance. Usually about 6~10 feet away. Even then I often miss the split second of a bird landing, grabbing a seed and dashing off. Or just get tail feathers leaving stage left. So I'll miss the approach of anything exotic and first I know is Mrs Bullfinch has landed in the centre of my EVF and I try not to freak out. (She is bolder than him and always arrives before.) If the robin doesn't see her off she will loiter and chew her way through a few sunflower seeds. The bullfinches seem to mash them up then swallow. Quite a lot comes back out their short rounded bills as they seem lost in thought. But I enjoy how still they stand. Makes photos far more successful than most of the coal tit pics, spoiled with motion blur from their incessant movements.

just on her own today
usually they travel in sociable groups of mixed genders.

avoidance tactics

can't see me here!

I went down to the riverside section beyond the tunnel. Unfortunately the light leaves this part of the world early in the afternoon and the activities aren't as well lit. There are several squirrels and a few birds down the bottom corner that I stop and lay out food for. There is also another robin that can get territorial, but isn't quite as bad the secret garden robin.

wren

I saw this one near the tunnel and I think
is the one that is next on my list for special training
Nearest to a robin in the snow photo! 😁