Turdus migratorius | Mike Powell

Posts Tagged ‘Turdus migratorius’

American Robin in February

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged American robin, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, robin, Tamron 150-600mm, Turdus migratorius, Woodbridge VA on February 26, 2020| 19 Comments »

Where I live in Northern Virginia, American Robins (Turdus migratorius) stay with us throughout most of the year, but I am always happy to see them because they evoke memories of my childhood, when robins were viewed as a harbinger of spring. This robin was part of a small flock that I spotted last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Robins also bring a smile to my face, because they invariably bring to mind the song “When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along)” that includes these catchy lyrics (as found on lyrics.com):

“When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob Bobbin’ Along
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along, along
There’ll be no more sobbin’ when he starts throbbin’ his old sweet song

Wake up, wake up you sleepy head
Get up, get out of your bed
Cheer up, cheer up the sun is red
Live, love, laugh and be happy

What if I were blue,
Now I’m walking through
Fields of flowers
Rain may glisten but still I listen for hours and hours

I’m just a kid again doing what I did again, singing a song
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along.”

If you are unfamiliar with this song, check out this link to Youtube to hear a wonderful version by Bing Crosby.

Readers from the United States may have noted that I initially called this bird an American Robin, rather than simply a Robin. Thanks to my occasional trips to Europe, I have been introduced to the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), an equally beautiful but completely different bird. Here’s a link to a posting about a European Robin that I spotted in Paris last November.

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Autumn Robin 2018

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged American robin, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, robin, Tamron 150-600mm, Turdus migratorius, Woodbridge VA on November 24, 2018| 5 Comments »

Recently I have been seeing flocks of American Robins (Turdus migratorius) throughout Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Growing up, I used to think of the appearance of robins primarily as a harbinger of spring. Where I live now, however, I see robins during most of the year.

Earlier this week during a period of the morning when the light was exceptionally beautiful I was searching desperately for a subject to photograph when I spotted this handsome robin in a bare tree. The branches of the tree were fascinating in their shapes and they became an important compositional element in the three images that I included in this posting.

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Down on the farm

Posted in animals, Birds, Nature, Photography, tagged bantam rooster, barbed wire, calf, Canon 50D, farm, Montpelier VA, Red Angus cow, rooster, Tamron 150-600mm, Turdus migratorius on April 20, 2018| 12 Comments »

I grew up in the suburbs, so even domesticated farmyard animals seem exotic to me, like this bantam rooster and Red Angus cow with her calf that I encountered last weekend in Montpelier, Virginia while I was out of town for a wedding.

I am also including an image of an American Robin (Turdus migratorius) that I also captured on the farm—I like the way that the color of the rusted barbs matches that of the robin’s breast and how their shape mirrors that of the robin’s clawed feet.

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Salute to the sun

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged American robin, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, robin, Tamron 150-600mm, Turdus migratorius, Woodbridge VA on March 28, 2018| 2 Comments »

Monday morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I captured this shot of an American Robin (Turdus migratorius) as it assumed a yoga-style pose and saluted the early morning sun.

In many ways, this is one of my favorite styles of wildlife photography. I find an ordinary subject, in this case the robin, and try to capture it in a way that highlights its beauty.

Of course, “ordinary” is a relative term and I have become more and more conscious of the fact that subjects that are common in one area may well be considered rare and exotic in another location. That heightened consciousness also caused me to identify this as an “American Robin,” because I have learned that Europeans have an equally beautiful, but different, bird that is also called a “robin.”

Beauty comes in many forms and one of my goals as a photographer is to capture a sense of that beauty and to share it with others. Ideally, it will cause some of those viewers to pause and wonder how it is that they did not notice that beauty themselves.Perhaps the next time they are out in nature, they will linger a little longer and look a bit closer and find that beauty revealed to them as well.

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Red-breasted robin with red berries

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, American robin, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, robin, Tamron 150-600mm, Turdus migratorius on March 3, 2018| 7 Comments »

I don’t tend to think of American Robins (Turdus migratorius) as acrobatic birds—most of the time I see them poking about on the ground, the traditional early bird searching for the worm. I photographed this acrobatic robin in February at Huntley Meadows Park, a marshland park not far from where I live. The robin was precariously perched on a very thin branch and moved slowly and carefully to maintain its balance and gently grab the little red berries you can see in the photo.

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Bathing robin

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged American robin, bathing robin, Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, robin, Tamron 150-600mm, Turdus migratorius, Woodbridge VA on November 9, 2017| 8 Comments »

There were lots of American Robins (Turdus migratorius) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, including one that decided to take a bath in a puddle in the middle of the path. A couple of years ago I probably would not have bothered to identify the bird as an “American Robin,” but now I know that there is a European Robin, which is a completely different bird.

The first shot of these three is the sharpest and I like the way that you can see the succession of puddles and the robin’s reflection. I am equally drawn, however, to the action shots with the water splashing into the air. The light was pretty limited at the time and only afterwards did I realize that my shutter speed had dropped to 1/125 of a second. That is why you can see some motion blur in the second shot, an effect that I think helps to give a dynamic feel to the image. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to include the third shot, but decided that I liked the out of focus robin in the background, whose peaceful pose is in sharp contrast with that of the frenetic flailing of the bathing robin.

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Tightrope walker

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, American robin, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, robin, Tamron 150-600mm, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, tightrope walker, Turdus migratorius on February 16, 2016| 10 Comments »

Like a tightrope walker, this American Robin (Turdus migratorius) inched its way along a narrow vine at Huntley Meadows Park, its eyes focused on the prize that awaited it at the other end. Periodically the robin used its wings for balance and moved forward until it reached a steady position almost within reach of the berries.

With a quick thrust forward of its head, the robin was able to snatch one of the low-hanging fruits. When I left it, the robin seemed to be enjoying its prize with a smile on its face.