Good old IMAC has been giving me some stick to do another post. In my last post I said that before I did do a posting I would visit all my followers blogs to say 'hello'.
Sorry, I visited about half of you fairly quickly but time has not allowed me to finish my rounds until today.
I thought this photo might be of interest to you (Click to enlarge) . ....Due to the severe weather we had in January (for us in Lincolnshire it was the worst for many years), I was tempted to put out scraps of food for the wild birds. I rarely feed the birds for fear of one of the vistors becoming a meal to our cat, Jasper. Thankfully, the snow and ice made it much easier for Jasper to stay indoors, she tended to come to the back door very quickly on the few occasions she wanted out . Fairly quickly, I progressed from throwing out bread (not the most sustaining of foods) to commercially bought suet treats, fat balls and my own offering of rolled oats (porridge), lightly soaked in lard.
The Blackbirds and Starlings soon found the food. Jasper kindly remained indoors and slept the days away and even now, on 'warmer' days she'll (don't ask!) go sleep in the greenhouse and only raise her head to look when a flock of Startlings drop in.
The bird above was one of the earlier arrivals and she stood out as different with that light patch on her throat. Although she seemed to be 'accepted' by the dominant male Blackbird I wondered if she was a female Ring Ouzel (see examples) After a bit of research, I'm happy to call her a female Blackbird.
I'm now wondering where she's got to. We had a good covering of snow when we woke up last Saturday (20th), and she must have been searching around the back of the green house for food and found Jaspers 'door'. An opening just like a cat flap but without the flap. Anyway we saw her trying to find her way out and eventually I went and opened the main door. She flew away quite strongly and I felt she was no worse for her experience.
I have not seen her since, that is, until this morning. There she was, boldly searching the lawn for the suet and/or rolled oats. A male blackbird did not like her there but she was having none of it, just moved to another section and carried on. Good for her and welcome back!
The photo was taken on a Canon EOS 450D using a Canon EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens. The shot was taken through double glazing and I have cropped it by about 50% and altered the lighting levels with Adobe Photoshop Elements 4
My wife gets her bird pictures with the same camera and lens combination and she loves them. You got a great picture of the lady blackbird. I'm glad she didn't become a snack for Jasper.
ReplyDeleteGreat shot, bloodhound! I love birds but don't feed them for the same reason. My cat loves them too! ;o)
ReplyDeleteAh, A post from BH. lol.
ReplyDeleteNice shot my friend, I'm also glad the lady Blackbird wasn't supper for Jasper.
Like the shotand the info is great to, keep up the good work - my friend.
Pop and see my latest posts from Wales.
Thankyou for your visits BH, and your kind comments.
ReplyDeleteIt would be foolish for me to even imagine what this bird is as your birds have all looked significantly different from those we have here, and some by the same name. I have since come to the conclusion that is why some of our birds have the "American" before the same names -- as in the American Goldfinch and the American Robin. Same names but different birds.
ReplyDeleteHi Abraham, I feel the same when I visit your Blogs. All these different birds, some of which I've never heard of. Your American Robin is very much like our Blackbird in size and Gizz while our Robin is much smaller than either although it does have the red breast.
ReplyDelete