Dressed for dinner

Blackbirds are the avian equivalent of Parisians, I reckon. How well dressed is this lovely chap? And he doesn't even have to try hard. This old thing? I've had it forever.

I tried to remain very still in the garden this evening to catch some birdy blips with my new zoom lens, but I am much too impatient to be a good wildlife photographer. I start to get cold, or twitchy, or hungry/thirsty. Originally I went out with the intention of trying to catch the wee family of finches that has taken up residence in the clematis hedge. Last year they tried to set up home there, too, but the fierce winds blew them away - unfortunately they had built their nest behind the open trellis part of our fence, so the wind tore right through every day. It was really cold last Easter and we even had snow. The Ards Man found their lovely little nest on the ground a month or so after they had abandoned it.

There is also a feisty robin hurtling around the garden - I got a couple of good shots of him (well, I thought they were good, you might not have..) but I liked the supercilious look this blackbird gave me. Not good practice, I suppose, encouraging haughty behaviour .......