Hi All
One of my Robins has started taking 3-4 mealworms at a time today and flying off with them in his beak, he has done it 3 times today, and I was wondering if it is too soon for the eggs to have hatched. Before today he was a regular feeder but only took one and ate it himself.
Chez
You have no control over what life & people throw at you - but you have full control over how you deal with it!
Hi SB,
Thank you for showing those really lovely pictures - he is a handsome chap. I am surprised he is on his own - sharing with a greenfinch (and a goldie peeping in the last picture). None of mine use perches if they can avoid it. They gather round the rim of a mesh tray or sit in the tray at the bottom of their feeder, but I suppose that is easier. I hope he keeps coming and brings his family. I have loads of pictures like your last one, and even more of empty feeders!!
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
Lol! Me too ;-)
There is something new to learn everyday...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/skylark58/
Unknown said: Hi All One of my Robins has started taking 3-4 mealworms at a time today and flying off with them in his beak, he has done it 3 times today, and I was wondering if it is too soon for the eggs to have hatched. Before today he was a regular feeder but only took one and ate it himself. Chez
Hi Chez,
The male will be more than lightly feeding the female as the incubation is done by the female only.
The young are fed by both parents.
Breeding Starts: Late March
Number of Clutches: 2-3
Number of Eggs: 3-9
Incubation (days) 12-15
Fledge (days) 12-15
If the female is on eggs and if all goes well the fledglings will be visible at the back end of this month!
The main factors for brood failures are the weather, insufficient natural food and predation.
I hope all goes well and look forward to your updates.
Regards Buzzard
Nature Is Amazing - Let Us Keep It That Way
Hi all
Lovely photos everyone!
Great news Chez, look forward to reading how they get on.
Had a robin a few weeks back building a nest in the ivy that grows over next door neighbours connifer hedge. In amongst it there was a silver birch (which was also covered in our ivy!) that I think the robin's nest was near to. We came home a couple of weeks ago to find the silver birch had been chopped down. The female robin has since deserted the area but I think has built another nest at the front of the house. The male comes in every day taking food away. This is my hope any way.
Regards
Kerry
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kezmo6310/
Sorry to ruin this thread but as I saw such lovely photos here I wondered if any of you could tell me if this camera would be any good at capturing the birds, Birds would be about 9 feet away most of the time.
The camera I have is rubbish, no optical zoom.
I can't afford much with two kids, teenagers.
I wondered about this one http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.207-8425.aspx
Hi kristle,
What you need for photgraphing birds is the largest optical zoom you can afford and the camera in your link only has 4x zoom which isn't really enough and you would be probably be frustrated with the results. Admitedly you will only be a few feet away but in time you would probably want to photograph subjects further away from you so perhaps you might like to have a look at the threads about cameras in the gear guide section?
SB
Hi Kristle,
I agree entirely with Sarum Bat. You get what you pay for I'm afraid, and if you want to photo the robin in the ivy or the finch on the feeder, you need a good optical zoom, (not digital zoom) even if you are only 9 or 10 feet away. I have learnt this recently as I only bought my camera a few weeks ago and am so glad I splashed out and bought an x18 zoom. My previous one was x4 and was useless for photographing birds.
yes as I thought, I hadn't noticed the photography forum, sorry.
I will wait untill I can happily afford a camera with a decent optical zoom.
I just wondered if anyone new what a 4x optical zoom was like.
I had looked at 12 x ? i think it was,
Thanks any way.
Back to the thread, I think Robins do do alot of courtship feeding, I tend to see them doing courtship feeding more than the other birds.
Hi Kristle
This is only a suggestion but you might be interested in the Samsung D1070:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=samsung+d1070&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=4129923073&ref=pd_sl_4csdrg503e_b
I must emphasise that it will never do what a DSLR or Bridge camera can do but it is certainly better than what you currently have. I have one as a "second" camera and I find it great for photographing birds as long as they are no more than 18-20 feet away, it is brilliant for landscapes and you can also record videos with sound. It comes with decent software which gives you all the standard editing features (crop, horizon, resize, auto image quality, brightness, contrast etc. etc.). Ultimately you will want more than this can provide but then it could become your "second" camera when you can afford the next step to either Bridge or DSLR.
The necessity of bird-watching is a really good reason for avoiding all forms of housework.
The dust will still be there tomorrow - the birds may not be!
Thanks guys,
I'm terrible when it comes to treating myself to something, (I never do)
I've decided to go to twice my original price range which only gives me a grand total of about £120, but with this I can hopefully get 10 to 12 optical zoom. I'll wait till next pay day and then go for it. I'll have to stick with capturing the birds with my cam corder. not such fun though but at least I get a record and you can actually see what it is! thanks to you all.