Today was all about Robins and a Jay.

One of the UK's nicest birds is the humble Robin. We see them so often that we almost don't see them anymore. I went for my first session at the hide today and the birds, obviously now finding it more dificult to find natural food, were coming to the feed almost constantly. My camera and 500mm lens was damaged in Sri Lanka which at the time was a big blow. Fortunately I took a spare camera and struggled on with the lens. I have replaced the camera with Pentax's new "flagship" the K5 11s, (it arrives tomorrow). The lens is back at the manufacturers and being repaired. A spare part is on it's way from Japan! So when I look at the image above and then consider that I used a broken camera and not my first choice of lens, I am really chuffed. Light is the ultimate friend and enemy of the photographer and sometimes it is just right and sometimes it just makes things difficult.

This is a typical pose of Britain's favourite bird.

Males and females are identical.

This is an Orinetal Magpie Robin from my recent trip to Sri Lanka. They are not related to our Robin but you can see how the shape is very similar and they could get the name.