The Robins Have Arrived

Robins are a sure sign of spring in Nebraska.  I've seen them around for several weeks outside of my yard.   It was perched on a log with a small amount of light snow.  The early bird may get the worm but it's hard to pull a worm out of frozen ground.  My bird feeder was an attractive alternative so I was able to photograph this one in my backyard today (March 16). 

This curious House Sparrow is showing off its gray feather covered head as it decided when to hop down for a drink.  In freezing weather, unfrozen water is a welcome treat.

Blue Jays are attracted to the peanuts I provide.  They quickly fly away with every nut I put out.  This one is checking the floor of my deck in hopes of finding another fallen peanut.

Eat, Drink and be Merry

We have an outdoor Christmas Tree for the first time this year.  It's on the deck behind the house next to the bird feeders.

The tree is decorated with strings of Cranberries and fruit loops.  It also has pine cones filled with peanut butter and dusted with bird seed.   What more could the birds want?

The birds ignored the tree for a week.  Perhaps it frightened them when it was blown over by strong gusts of wind.  We tied it down better.  A raccoon stopped by at night and nibbled on a couple of pine cones.  Too much fiber - he moved on to the next house. 

Last night we had 8 inches of snow.  This morning Starlings and House Sparrows flocked to the Christmas tree like there is not tomorrow.  Actually tomorrow 12/21/2012 is the day the Mayan calendar says the world ends, so today may be the day to Eat, Drink and be Merry.

I used a Canon 5D Mark II with a 400mm lens for these photos.  I shot them at 1/125 of a second with the lens set to f4. Even though it was mid morning,  it was a challenge to use natural light.  I had to set the ISO to 640.  Post processing was done in Lightroom.  Every image required noise reduction and cropping.