I’ve not done these photo challenges before but I saw this over on Ark’s site and thought I would give it a go. It gives me a good excuse to trawl through some old files for images I’ve not posted before, enjoy.
The challenge is set by Lisa Coleman over on her blog. Hope this link works. https://oureyesopen.blog/2020/12/11/bird-weekly-photo-challenge-birds-with-red-feathers/
A frequent visitor to the feeders at our old place. The Great Spotted Woodpecker is normally found in woodland and is one of only three woodpeckers we have in the UK.
The European Goldfinch is often seen in flocks. They like to feed on thistle seeds, as they have quite fine bills for a finch if you want them on your garden feeders try seeds like niger. This one was on top of a crab apple in our old garden.
The Mealy Redpoll is quite a scarce visitor to the UK. This is one of two I saw on a visit to Sculthorpe Moor NR back at the start of 2018.
As it’s that time of the year I’ll finish with a bird that’s on a lot of our greeting cards the Robin. At places where people are frequent these little birds can become quite tame, even feeding from the hand. This one was at Dunwich in Suffolk in 2017 and was a right poser!
Hope these images come out sharper than my last efforts!
Remember to pop over to Lisa’s blog to check out the other offerings.
A nice collection of birds and photos Brian. (As you say it’s a good excuse to resurrect some images). We never had much luck with niger seeds. The goldfinches come at various times throughout the year, but they’ve always preferred whatever else was available. A full feeder (with an especially small hole just for niger seeds) only went down about an inch in 2 years!
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Thanks Mike. Seems your goldies are a bit fussy though sunflower hearts are also a big favourite.
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I meant to say that we buy a big 20kg sack of sunflower seeds and store them in a plastic dustbin. In the depths of winter a full tube type feeder is gone in less than a day. At the moment it’s about 2 days. But then we also have a peanut feeder and some fat balls attracting mainly Great Tits and a few Blue and Coal Tits, with the occasional visit of a flock of Long Tailed Tits. The Accentors haven’t been back since the other day.
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A great challenge to opt in for! These are lovely! Several I’ve never seen and would love to!
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Thanks Deborah, yes nice to find some images for this challenge. I think another trip over here would be your best shot to see these birds!
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Fingers crossed that happens!!😄
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A really nice selection, Mr. B. and of course, beautifully photographed.
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Cheers Ark and thanks for that link on your post.
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Pleasure.
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I love the robin image!
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Chubby little fellow isn’t he!
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Beautiful captures, Brian–I love seeing your English birds!
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Always a pleasure to post some of our birds Tina and this medium is a good way of seeing others from around the world.
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A sharp set there B! Will have to check out the challenge link you provided – assuredly I have some in the queue that might satisfy some of the challenges ha. Cool looking Pecker and, as you know, I am quite jealous of your Goldfinch – ours have the yellow amped to 11, but I like the variety of colors yours have. Still need to tin the Redpolls over here.
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I bet you have plenty to fulfill these challenges and they are probably a lot older than mine!
Wish we had the variety of ‘peckers you have but have to agree our goldie is nicer.
Have a good weekend B.
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Really nice collection of “reds”. Every time I see Robin I think American Robin and these European ones just don’t link in my brain that they are Robins. Small cute birds compared to large American size ones. I even had to fact check the Hubby when I first moved to this side of the pond. Hehe yup… Roodborst is the Dutch name.
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Thanks CJ. Yes no comparison with the two Robins. I did see the ‘Mericun version many years back and it was quite stunning (especially as it was over here on the east coast) the size of our Blackbirds.
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They are pretty big! I always love watching them pull worms from the ground in the Spring.😊
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Beautiful captures, Brian, I enjoyed the ‘red feathers’ theme, they fit perfectly! Fabulous close-up of your Robin!!
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Cheers Donna. That Robin was so tame, the easiest bird I’ve photographed.
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What lovely birds you have shared with us this week and fantastic clarity. Welcome to Bird Weekly. Hope you will join us each week or whenever you can. 🙂
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Absolutely wonderful shot, Brian. Way better than any of my attempts! Just beautiful! 🙏📷
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Kind words Rob but don’t put yourself down your bird shots are great but your landscapes are superb.
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(Apologies for the late replies. Life is full of busy-work at times.)
Outstanding photographs! We fell in love with Robins when we first moved to Germany in the early 1970’s as they were the first visitors to our feeder.
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Don’t apologise Wally life must go first.
Robins are great, they seem to adopt you. We have one in our new garden, at the moment it’s a matter of earning trust.
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