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Robin on ice

This morning was on the chilly side – frost overnight left the ground very hard and any water frozen. I had breakfast at my window, watching the birds as daylight came in – what a peaceful way to start the day. I spied seven blackbirds, three robins and two dunnocks dashing along the ground this morning. It was two hours later that I captured the video below.

Robin on iced pond, video 0:25 with background music, try 480p quality.
Robin, shown above, did not wait until the ice melted, or I broke it, to get a drink. He was thirsty and resourceful! He carefully walked out on the ice to get to water under an over-hanging stone. I was absolutely delighted with this piece of film as really it started out as a test for my new tripod. I had been trying to familiarise myself with its movements when the robin below popped into the frame – I followed it not knowing what it was about to do!

Coal Tit feeding on pine tree, video 0:25with background music, try 480p quality.
Coal Tit was another surprise video capture today. I have found it very difficult to get the coal tit on film as it comes into the feeders very quickly, takes a seed and off it flies to the safety of the trees or hedge to eat it. I had just set the camera up and switched on the PC, when I glanced out the window to find it moving about the pine tree in search of food. It finally settled on a branch and you can see what beautiful markings it has – especially on its head. I will also copy this footage to a previous post that shows it with the Great and Blue tit and if you go to this post you will be able to compare them all .

The videos, shown above, were taken in my garden on February 6th 2007.

2 thoughts on “Robin on ice

  1. Hi Shirl, I love seeing the birds and wildlife in your garden. I have never been to Scotland. I used to read everything I could about it thinking it would be one of my travel destinations some day.

    Your Coal Tit is a fancier version of our Carolina Chickadee. The CACH is 4 3/4″ (12cm) long. I love the video. The CACH is also difficult to get a decent picture of because it moves just like your Coal Tit. FAST…

    Your Robin is so cute and small compared to our American Robin. The AMRO is 10″ (25.5cm)L. They migrate in flocks. During the summer their territories are small. Sometimes we have 3-5 nests in our garden. We have several large trees. Before our neighbor cut down all of their mature trees we had even more Robins that fed in our garden. They really battle over feeding ground.

  2. Hi again, Lisa

    Thanks, I see you have lots on birds and wildlife in your blog too. I intend browsing more fully 😀

    Scotland is perhaps small but you will always get a warm welcome. Oh yes, and it has a great natural landscape too!

    Thanks, I can see the likeness of the coal tit to the Carolina Chickadee. I am enjoying hearing about different birds of the same family especially in different countries. Yes, the coal tits are very fast 😀

    It’s funny but I find your American Robins interesting too. I suppose it is because they are so different. From what I have read in your blog I am guessing that they are quite like our Starlings coming to the feeders in groups and taking over. However, our European Robin is rather feisty too and is often seen chasing off any other Robin coming into my garden. It is all entertaining to watch isn’t it 😀

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