The Garden Birds 26th Dec

After looking at the weather last night I had hoped to go out this morning to do a misty sun shoot. When I woke up I looked out the window to find that there was no mist. Putting my alarm on snooze I woke up again half hour later to find that there was mist but not the mist I had hoped for. Feeling that I was making excuses for myself and not wanting to go out in the cold I turned off the alarm and went back to bed. When I awoke again the mist had gone and the garden was teaming with birds. I watched for a while deciding whether or not to grab the camera. A few minutes later I had a 170-500mm lens mounted on a tripod with my canon 400D. Set up to shoot through the glass of the window. I was not sure of the quality I would achieve through this set up but it was warm which made a change. The first bird I was able to capture was a Great Tit, although slightly grainy due to 400iso the quality was not bad at all.

Great Tit

Great Tits do not often visit the garden however this morning there was a pair of them feeding from the Sunflower seed feeder situated in a Holly tree. They displayed a degree of weariness, flying off with the seeds to crack them else where. This meant I was able to photograph them at the approached the feeder.

Sparrow

Sparrows have always been a regular visitor to our garden however in the last few years there has

been a huge decline in the population around us. I have noticed this in other areas as well and the RSPB has been investigating there decline. The decline of the house Sparrow has had its advantages in our garden; a larger verity of birds now visits due to there not being a mob of Sparrows sitting on the feeders but it does worrys me that one of the most common birds to the uk is in decline.

The Sparrows that we do have in the garden behave in the same way that they have always done; sit on the feeders and don't show any signs of shyness.

Thrush

there were two Thrushes in the garden today. They tended to hide away however this one came up close to the house all fluffed up against the cold before it returned to hunt for food out of sight.

Redwing

It was these birds that made me grab the camera in the first place, but by the time I had got it set up they had gone. However later on I looked out the window, thinking there was no birds in the garden I turned away. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a Redwing right up by the house half buried in leaves that it had thrown up in its search for food. Then on closer inspection I saw that there was a whole group all in its own little whole. The thrushes were there as well however on spotting me they flew further away. For some reason the Redwings seemed ok with my presence at the window and carried on giving me the odd glance. It was quite amazing how deep the wholes they were making. One seemed to almost have a burrow under a log and would only now and again emerge. A couple more came down but were quickly chased away by the birds already there. This is the closest that I have ever come to observing these birds in the wild and I hope that I can do so again.

Robbin

The Robbin which has been a resident in the garden for a while has spent most of its time, since I put up the feeders, chasing away other birds and generally being aggressive. It also had a very uncanny way of sitting just out of the light making it very hard to photograph.

Location: My Garden

Time/Date: Morning of 26^th December 2010

Weather: overcast cold