I hear the arriving birds in the spring much more often and more easily than I see them. But the other day I took my telephoto lens out to see if any co-operative birds would pose for pictures. I could hear several Robins, a Song Sparrow, Crows, Blue Jays, a distant Cardinal, and Killdeer. Among those, a Robin and a Song Sparrow were prepared to ignore me while I got pictures.
It took awhile, but I finally spotted the source of the Robin's call I was hearing, high in a tree along the fencerow. I would have been pleased even to get these two photographs.
But then, as I was standing near the garden getting the shots below, one Robin decided I was not a threat, and flew in to explore what bugs it could find in the grass. It just kept moving closer, and cropping the pictures quite a bit brought it closer still. The sun co-operated too!
I could hear the Song Sparrow's call from some distance, and wandered back through the meadow trying to see it. When I did, I got off one shot before it flew.
Helpfully, it landed in the top of a young cedar right beside our deck. I wandered closer, and it ignored me. It also faced toward me, so I caught that diagnostic dark spot on its breast in the morning sun. Note the difference between the last two pictures - as the sparrow stretches its neck up to sing, the dark feathers become much more obvious, forming a clear dark spot. Two of our earliest spring arrivals in the bird kingdom.
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Oh, my, these are wonderful captures! I almost tried to capture some of the robins today but didn't have time.
ReplyDeleteExcellent photos of the Robins we have quite few here in Oklahoma as well nun not the camera to take amazing pics like these. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteNice pictures. You could frame them, they are that good!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love these photos! Like you, I've been searching for robins. I've heard them singing for nearly a month, but never catch sight of one until a few days ago. I have walked along the path on my walks with my head thrown back searching for the source of the robin song I could hear. It's a wonder I didn't trip and break my neck. You have done a wonderful job of capturing the signalers of spring. I agree. Some of these deserve a frame.
ReplyDeleteI have been hearing the robins for awhile now and today I heard my first white-crowned sparrow of the season. Last night I heard the spring peepers in the field behind us. Ah, spring! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! The birds have been putting on a display here too, in spite of the snow and cold. Love this time of year!
ReplyDeleteHello, I can almost hear the birds singing. Cute shots of the robin and the Song Sparrow. Happy Tuesday, enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful birds, and I love the blue sky backgrounds!
ReplyDeleteHave a beautiful day!
Wonderful photos ! I use my telephoto zoom lens all the time for my nature shots it is my fave lens as it lets me get close with out getting to close that I scare my subjects away and it helps with shots that you want but maybe to dangerous or you cant get to close because it can be to dangerous for me a telephoto zoom lens is a win win for all my photos . Thanks for sharing and glad your spring birds are back . Have a good day !
ReplyDeleteLooks like you found some very cooperative birds! The birds have returned to my neighborhood too and it's nice to hear them singing in the morning.
ReplyDeleteWonderful shots! The robins I've seen here in recent days tend to be a bit skittish.
ReplyDeleteI love to hear the song sparrows! Great shots!
ReplyDeletePretty little guys! I get a little excited when I see the first robins of spring.
ReplyDeleteWhat gorgeous little robins & sparrows!
ReplyDeleteLove the sugar maple bark designs. My song sparrow never returned this year. but I now have a pair of Oregon Juncos enjoying my seed feeders and the flock of hummingbirds is growing by the day. It started with one on Sunday and yesterday there were at least five flitting around. - Margy
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos of the robins. I still haven't seen or heard one here.
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