Thursday, 22 January 2015

Super Cold, Super Birds

A super cold morning last Saturday saw me out just after first light. At -4 degrees, it meant I was scraping the car of ice and eating into my valuable birding time. I'm one of those people that when I've decided to go somewhere, I need to go there and then. Any later and I start to get fidgety.
I made it to my patch and it was icy cold. My six layers plus hat snood and gloves were doing a great job of keeping me from being too cold though. The best thing about the cold weather is that it brings plenty of birds out into the open to feed.
One particular field was alive with Redwings, Fieldfares and Mistle Thrush. It was a great sight to watch as they busily hopped along looking for breakfast.
Now, I've tried to get a decent image of a Fieldfare for a while and I have hopelessly failed. If it wasn't for the pesky branches on the shots below I'd have been over the moon. I was in the right place with the sun in the right place too. The bird was there, but so were the branches.
The challenge goes on. Let's hope it stays cold for a few weeks yet.



Now this would have been perfect if the Fieldfare had sat out in the open. A nice Goldfinch all the same.

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24 comments:

  1. Lovable Derek23 January 2015 at 10:43

    Delightful photos, albeit taken under challenging conditions. Great stuff. Well done.

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  2. eileeninmd24 January 2015 at 17:21

    Beautiful birds, I really love the pretty Goldfinch! Great shots! Thank you for linking up and sharing your post.. Have a happy weekend!

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  3. maryaustria24 January 2015 at 19:12

    Fantastic shots of these beautiful birds!

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  4. Unknown24 January 2015 at 19:54

    Wonderful birds! We had some fieldfares here before Christmas. I think they stayed later than normal because of the warm weather and the abundance of berries to eat.

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  5. Bob Bushell24 January 2015 at 22:42

    Brilliant images Adam, I love the Fieldfare, fantastic.

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  6. carol l mckenna24 January 2015 at 23:19

    Love the goldfinch ~ Excellent nature photography as always ~

    Happy Weekend to you,
    artmusedog and carol

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  7. Su-sieee! Mac24 January 2015 at 23:23

    Gorgeous birds. I like your photos. I think the branches ground the composition. Hope you get your perfect photos next time.
    The View from the Top of the Ladder

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  8. Irma25 January 2015 at 10:21

    Beautiful birds in very nice light.
    Have a good Sunday.
    Best regards, Irma

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  9. Adam Tilt25 January 2015 at 13:34

    Super light and super birds.

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  10. TexWisGirl25 January 2015 at 14:13

    beautiful light to make those birds glow. :)

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  11. Millie25 January 2015 at 14:47

    I think they are all amazing shots. Love the golden light!

    I can't use my WordPress ID with the settings. Teresa @ Eden Hills

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  12. Debbie25 January 2015 at 16:08

    you could not have picked a better backdrop for these beautiful images!! and yeah for no leaves!!!

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  13. This N That25 January 2015 at 17:10

    Great photos..Nice to see birds from other areas/countries..Happy Sunday..Our finches look a little different..

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  14. Margaret Birding For Pleasure26 January 2015 at 09:01

    Fabulous photos. Have a great week.

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  15. A Colorful World26 January 2015 at 10:38

    No problem here with the branches...they are GREAT shots! Love the golden light!

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  16. mick26 January 2015 at 20:00

    Great photos of the birds. I would have loved to see them out in the open like that but I am sure I would not have managed the cold!

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  17. Fun6026 January 2015 at 20:30

    Great photos. I admire your determination despite the weather.

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  18. Unknown27 January 2015 at 08:05

    I think the branches add to the pics. Nice colourings

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  19. Rajesh27 January 2015 at 17:57

    Perfect shots of such lovely birds.

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  20. NCSue27 January 2015 at 18:20

    Wonderful images - you take such wonderful bird shots!
    Thanks for sharing at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2015/01/pretty-in-purples.html

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  21. sunshine27 January 2015 at 19:27

    Beautiful images and a great Godfinch.

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  22. Findlay Wilde27 January 2015 at 21:28

    I think the sticks across the Fieldfare should be there, it's really natural that way.

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  23. Anonymous27 January 2015 at 21:44

    Lovely shots.

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  24. Mary Howell Cromer28 January 2015 at 16:28

    Your shares are delightful!

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I enjoy reading your comments as much as I enjoy taking the pictures. Thank you for taking the time to comment on my post.