Mockingbird

I can't even post this picture without "Hush little baby, don't say a word/Papa's going to buy you a mockingbird" coming into my head. It'll probably be there all day. Perhaps that's because as a child growing up in England, I had no idea what a mockingbird was, and so my interest was piqued.

I like mockingbirds. They are gregarious and bumptious - not afraid to make their presence felt. They don't hide in the bushes like other birds, but perch on the top of a shrub or a rock or come to ground to drink from, or bathe, in puddles. This makes them easy to photograph! Together with the fact that there seem to be a lot of them around at the moment.

And yes, they sing. I can't help but think that the song would be more realistic if it went "And if that mockingbird won't shut up occasionally"... but that wouldn't scan.

The clouds gave way to a fine rain on my walk this morning. The spider webs became decked out with water drops - always a bit creepy because I don't like spiders and I'd prefer not to know that there are huge orbweavers all over the place and how many I must brush into when I walk off trail. And the egrets? Well, they are there, in the distance, about a dozen of them carousing with the herons, snowies and ducks. Or possibly the other way around.

Belle Isle Marsh, Boston, with the monster lens, hand held.