Male blackbird If numbers of blackbirds appear in gardens this autumn they may well be migrants from Norway, Sweden and Finland. Come to compete for food with native blackbirds here throughout the year. .
A bright eye-ring and black plumage distinguish the male blackbird. Follow this sequence of images and you'll see some with characteristic bright yellow bill, others- like this male, have a darker bill. I think this is a first-winter male.
This blackbird has squashed the berry he's about to eat. Others appear to swallow them whole.
Lockdown is an opportunity to discover more about a bird we think we know.
A bright eye-ring and black plumage distinguish the male blackbird. Follow this sequence of images and you'll see some with characteristic bright yellow bill, others- like this male, have a darker bill. I think this is a first-winter male.
This blackbird has squashed the berry he's about to eat. Others appear to swallow them whole.
Lockdown is an opportunity to discover more about a bird we think we know.
Our gardens have berried shrubs and fruit trees but already in early November you can see which fruit garden birds prefer. The red berries of native rowan have all been eaten, berries of exotic rowan and hybrids are gone. In neighbourhood gardens there are crab apples and quinces, windfall apples too. So which are the fruit of choice?
Robin and dunnock deserve our care. Garden feeders are tricky for them, they cannot cling on and feed so you'll often find dunnock mouse-like on the ground, pecking up morsels of fat fallen below the feeders. Lockdown is a good time to study wildlife, to observe behaviour and make discoveries. Taking photographs, I'm reminded of 'Skyfalll' and Judi Dench as M, instructing Moneypenny ' take the shot, take the shot.' Moneypenny hesitates, she cannot get a clean shot. Bond is in her line of fire and she has to take out the villain. Bird photography poses a similar problem. How to get a clean shot when birds feed deep in foliage? I want that split second when a red berry is poised in a blackbird's bill and a mote of light in the eye which brings the bird alive.
Robin and dunnock deserve our care. Garden feeders are tricky for them, they cannot cling on and feed so you'll often find dunnock mouse-like on the ground, pecking up morsels of fat fallen below the feeders. Lockdown is a good time to study wildlife, to observe behaviour and make discoveries. Taking photographs, I'm reminded of 'Skyfalll' and Judi Dench as M, instructing Moneypenny ' take the shot, take the shot.' Moneypenny hesitates, she cannot get a clean shot. Bond is in her line of fire and she has to take out the villain. Bird photography poses a similar problem. How to get a clean shot when birds feed deep in foliage? I want that split second when a red berry is poised in a blackbird's bill and a mote of light in the eye which brings the bird alive.
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