Backyard tripping

Well, winter is offcially here. There were bits of snow and sleet last week when temperatures dipped below 0 deg C. Though it went back up to single digits later, it remained cold. I remained pessimistic about any potential of ticking off any wader at this time of year anywhere along the coast for now until next spring.

Naturally the attention turned to these little fleeting birds around the neighbourhood. Last fall the landlord decided to trim some of the trees around our house, completely chopped down many of them for his firewood pile. The few that he left behind were nice big trees, which provided plenty of food opportunities for the birds looking for insects and other morsels in the coming months. It also provided clearer unobstructed view for the stranded in the backyard bird photographer.

With some offering from the local supermarket, these little birdies need no invitation to party. The regulars are the Great Tit, Blue-Tit and lurking about the European Robin. The Blackbird is always there but don't think he's picking up any of the party pickings.

An odd visitor or two chirped in and out once in a while ie. Goldcrest, Brambling, unid Warbler and others, but I gather these will be less and more far between as winter progresses.

Here are some images from yesterday. I sat 6 feet away from the feeder in the open with a 400/5.6 in hand. Our big living room glass window provided the function of a reflector. The sun was shining to my left as I faced the feeder directly. And it was cold!

These birds are still very skittish, they get startled everytime the shutter went kaboosh! Hopefully in time they'd get used to the sound and would less agitated during feeding. They should just ignore the photographer and enjoy the food.