Looking through the lens makes everything stand still, brings nature up close so you can see more. I love a beautiful photo, something clear, sharp, colorful, expressive.
But what I enjoy even more are the photos that tell me more about the bird than I knew before. That allow me to see beyond what my eye can observe in the fast moving moment of a bird encounter and tell me more about its personality and behavior. 
Have you ever noticed a robin's cap? I had to look and then look again at this robin image below. I thought, "that must be the tree, that can't be the shape of his head." But it is his head. It is his expressive crown and he has it all puffed up.
What a different expression he's wearing in the above photo compared to the first one. 
But what I enjoy even more are the photos that tell me more about the bird than I knew before. That allow me to see beyond what my eye can observe in the fast moving moment of a bird encounter and tell me more about its personality and behavior. Have you ever noticed a robin's cap? I had to look and then look again at this robin image below. I thought, "that must be the tree, that can't be the shape of his head." But it is his head. It is his expressive crown and he has it all puffed up. This robin doned smooth head feathers in my first shot, looking like we expect robins to look. And then something disturbed him and his feathers began to rise on his crown and his throat until he looked like someone had set a cap upon his head.
What a different expression he's wearing in the above photo compared to the first one. Do you wonder sometimes what southern resident robins think about all the northern migrants dropping in to dine at their table?
yeah...'i'll be glad when those snowbirds go home!' lol i never realized that about the robin's crown before...very interesting.
ReplyDeleteNot all our robins go south. They head for our woods and roost all winter. I'll see them all winter on Presque Isle State park. It is great to see them up close with a camera and even better when you get a chance to help band them.
ReplyDeleteVickie, what a lovely robin. Yours of course are the size of our blackbirds. Our robins are a little bigger than your coal tits.
ReplyDeleteMy eyesight has lost it's precision, so I snap first and identify later. It helps to know the call when going for a specific bird though.
Thanks for stopping by and giving me a pointer about the importance of plumage.
Hi Gina. I did find that pose interesting. We more often see the shape of their crown from the side.
ReplyDeleteHi Toni. Its funny that when you look deeper, you discover what you don't know. I've seen large flocks of robins roosting in a tree as they migrate through. But I've never researched where they might be traveling from. One assumes "north" but that covers a lot of territory from here.
Thanks, Arija. Bird size difference from area to area is interesting. The camera's eyesight is one of the joys of having it as a companion!
Great photos. I learn similar things about details in birds in the same way.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a huge part of the fun for me, too, Mick. Even when I don't get the photo I want, there's sometimes a hidden surprise.
ReplyDeleteYou are soooo talented! Love the drawings!
ReplyDeleteHi, I-Daisy! Thank you. It is so good to hear from you again after the mystery technical glitch. You have been missed.
ReplyDeleteVickie - not to turn this into a mutual admiration society, but I (before I saw your Wednesday post) referenced your two robin posts in my Zen Nature Lessons. Nice job and check it out:
ReplyDeletehttp://wildbirdsunlimited.typepad.com/the_zen_birdfeeder/2008/12/zen-nature-lessons.html