Thirsty robin

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Thirsty robin

March 2, 2015 by Mike Powell

A flock of American Robins (Turdus migratorius) was feverishly foraging in the bushes, but one solitary robin felt a need to satisfy its thirst. Perching on a fallen branch mostly submerged in the frozen pond, the robin gently leaned forward and dipped its bill in a small pool of open water. It must be tough for birds in the wild to get water to drink during the cold days of winter.

As I was processing the photo, I couldn’t help but notice that it was mostly monochromatic, except for the orange in the breast and bill, so I played around a little with converting it to black and white. It still doesn’t pop as much as I would like, but I thought it would be fun to include it for comparison with the original.

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, American robin, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, robin, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, Turdus migratorius | 12 Comments

12 Responses

on March 2, 2015 at 6:29 am | Reply Victor Rakmil

I prefer the black and white. It has a certain impact.
- on March 2, 2015 at 6:47 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Victor for providing your thoughts. I don’t have a lot of experience dealing with black and white images, so I really welcome the views of others. I was drawn to the idea of black and white because the subject was simple and the background uncluttered.
on March 2, 2015 at 7:52 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

I like the black and white shot but when it comes to robins in spring it’s all about the red breast and the hop, hop, hopping so my favorite is the color version.

I worry about birds and animals finding open water in the winter too but surprisingly I’m seeing a lot of open water, even as cold as it’s been.
on March 2, 2015 at 7:56 am | Reply thenerdycanuck

so cute! love this pic.
on March 2, 2015 at 7:57 am | Reply thenerdycanuck

I enjoyed both the black and white and colourized 🙂
on March 2, 2015 at 10:48 am | Reply krikitarts

I haven’t seen you do much with monochrome conversion. If you’d like to experiment more and would like them to be more dramatic–or at least more like what you visualize, I really recommend Nik software’s Silver Efex Pro. Check it out!
on March 2, 2015 at 1:21 pm | Reply gaiainaction

Thank you – love to see these birds 🙂
on March 2, 2015 at 5:27 pm | Reply Charlie@Seattle Trekker

The results are interesting, I do think I enjoy the colorized version the most.
- on March 3, 2015 at 4:26 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Charlie, for providing your input. Most of the time I prefer the color version too.
on March 2, 2015 at 9:28 pm | Reply rhudgins

Fantastic picture!
- on March 3, 2015 at 4:25 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. It was a lucky moment that presented itself to me while I was observing and photographing the robins.
on March 3, 2015 at 3:52 pm | Reply Sarah Longes - Mirador Design

Fabulous!