Dancing Pony
Then the birds are at it again ... distracting me. I needed to top up all the feeders this morning. As soon as I'd finished the garden was a mass of activity...
The Great Tits carry sunflower seeds to a handy branch then hold them in their claws whilst pecking to get at the centres. The lawn under the seed feeders is absolutely littered with discarded shells ... hopefully it makes good compost anyway!
and I learned something new today ....
I'd always thought that only male Robins (our English variety) have red breasts. I believed that females were less gaudy .... like our house sparrows where the males have black bibs and the females are plain. So I've been curious about a pair of robins sharing garden space recently and even helping each other at the fatballs feeders - one hanging precariously on the feeder and dropping bits to the floor which the other robin picked up. Robins are known to be fiercely territorial and will fight to the death over their 'patch' so I couldn't figure why these two were rubbing along so well together.
I finally got round to Googling it this morning (as you do) and found that male and female robins are very similar, almost identical in appearance in fact. So this must be a breeding pair visiting the garden every day. They'll split up again once the little ones leave home I understand but for the short breeding season they'll put up with each other's company.
not the best shot of them but they're very active little things
David and I spent yesterday afternoon manning the Made in Whitstable art exhibition. Lots of visitors showing great interest but only 2 original pictures sold (not mine) and lots of prints. I've sold several prints but looks as though the pictures will be coming home again on Tuesday evening. Never mind, most of my business cards have gone and I know that this leads to future commissions so its never wasted time/energy.
I have a meeting this afternoon so just a couple of hours to do a little more on the dog pastel - just going to extend the body fur a little more so he's not a 'floating head'. Fellow blogger Peter Barker has told me off for 'truncating' earlier pet portraits and I've taken his words of wisdom to heart .. thanks Peter!
Hope to have another update later
Did NOT click your link, I will try it later perhaps. That photo of the Great Tit was absolutely wonderful, you ought to submit it to a bird magazine or something.
ReplyDeleteSorry you didn't sell any pix, prints are good though and as you say, your cards should bring you commissions.
Hi Jo
ReplyDeleteI've been out all afternoon but believe I may have sold 2 originals .. more in next post.
The weather has been brighter for last couple of days and I've got some bird photos (through the double glazed windows) which I'm pretty pleased with seeing as my camera is a 'bridge' and not a professional type.
Got a shot of a goldfinch today which was very clear .... and I didn't chop its head or feet off LOL
You have to check out the dancing pony ... very amusing!
Sue your photos are so professional looking!! What camera do you use? Are you outside when taking them or through a window (would have to be pretty clean :D )
ReplyDeleteLOL Loved the dancing pony LOL Especially when the "human" showed up LOL LOL GREAT Link. Thanks for sharing it :)
Reggie is looking fantastic!
Thank you Peggy :-)
ReplyDeleteI use a Panasonic DMCFZ200. Its described as a Bridge Camera which sort of bridges the gap between pocket cameras and the big professional ones (as I understand it) So, its not small enough to fit into the average coat pocket but it doesn't have a ton of gadgets/lenses with it. It suits me as I'm a bit of a technophobe so I like to find a few standard settings and stick with those.
The bird photos are all taken through double glazed windows so I'm happy with the results I get from this camera (I'm not a house-proud lady and my windows only get cleaned a couple of times per year if I'm honest)!!
love the grey looking at the pony in the video :p its very cute
ReplyDeletedidn't know that about robins here, good to know :)
It made me smile Jennifer ... did you try making your own versions of the video?
ReplyDeleteStrange about the robins isn't it - I'd just always assumed that Robins with traditional red breasts are male - like in the nursery rhyme about who killed cock robin etc.
Sue it's interesting to see the difference in your Robins to ours as far as the color intensity goes but it's the same way here. You can't tell the male and female apart (unlike most other birds).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. on that camera. I'll have to look into it. I can't believe those picts. were taken through a window WOW!!
i did try making my own pony videos, but had to stop after awhile, too much other stuff to do :p
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased with the camera Peggy and I am making myself try out/learn about different functions so hopefully the photos will get better. I still go 'green' when I see some of the fantastic photos posted on some of the Blogs I follow - but I really don't want to have to cart lots of lenses and equipment everywhere I go (or learn how to use it all) LOL
ReplyDeleteCheck out Gary's photos on
http://walksnwildlife.blogspot.co.uk/
Well done you for stopping playing with the videos Jennifer ... You're obviously far more focused than me :-)
ReplyDeleteOh Yes, I'm familiar with Gary's work.
ReplyDeleteHe posts a lot of his photos on http://paintmyphoto.ning.com/
He really makes the camera sing :)