EUROPEAN ROBIN Erithacus rubecula

The male and female European Robins, or just robins, are identical, but the juveniles are brown with golden brown spots.The vibrant red breast of the robin is a lovely sight however my balcony is in deep shade when it appears so it's not seen at it's best. It is the first bird to appear on my balcony and I hear it's song long before I open the shutters. Although they are fiercely territorial. thankfully I have never seen signs of aggression. A robin will fly to the ledge, hop along to the wooden feeder then fly down to the ground for crumbs. I wish I could photograph one in a natural setting, but those moments are few and far between. These are all I have to share.

SPRING JAYS Garrulus Glandarius

Those of you who have ever tried to photograph the Eurasian Jay know how shy they are, and how difficult they are to capture on camera. It has taken me years to try to photograph one in flight but so far without success. To be able to photograph a Jay I have to keep my camera poised in one place in the hope that a Jay will alight in a specific place where I have seen one perch before. It's tiring, because I have to stand, and it may take a while before one appears, but the desire to obtain my objective is greater than my discomfort.I live in a place where Jays are plentiful, perhaps they have an ingrained sense of fear of humans because they were once hunted and killed for their decorative blue feathers used to embellish both men's and woman's hats. Of course I don't know if this is true, but it's true that they fear us. They have exceptional eye sight and they detect the slighted movement which will make them take flight. Although I see them every day, I'm still in awe of their beauty, and they have a certain presence that's hard to ignore,which I liken to when a beautiful women has just entered a room and everyone's eyes are upon her.

I will be linking up to "Saturday's Critters"Click on the icon on the right sidebar to get there, where you will see many different creatures from around the globe.

IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD:

On the 17th of March imagine my surprise when I opened the wooden shutters to find it wasn't raining.  It wasn't sunny either but at least it was fine weather which lasted for 4 days. I couldn't wait to get outside and take some photos around the house to share on my blog.These are some of the photos I took. Most of the stone steps are covered in leaves. I landscaped the terrain and at the time the steps were made, we had two stone masons working on them. It didn't always look like this, as we had two gardeners that worked in the garden every day, and also in my extended garden shown in the photos, but times change, and the vibrant colour that was everywhere disappeared leaving a more natural look. I do what I can in the garden as I always did, but now that I'm older it takes it's toll, especially since I'm on my own.I remain young at heart however, and still enjoy life as I have much to be thankful for and never forget to count my blessings.I was listening to Rod Stewart's "It's a wonderful world" this morning as I was having breakfast and singing along full of the joys of spring.It's spring folks. lets enjoy it!

I will be linking up to "Saturday's Critters"Click on the icon on the right sidebar to get there, where you will see many different creatures from around the globe.

JAY ON A WINDY DAY.

The stormy weather continues, another tree is down,  the wind is ferocious and the rain torrencial. The food I put out for the birds is soon covered with rain water. I only use shallow plates and although I place them as near as I can to the wall, and even though my balcony is covered, in this kind of weather nothing can be done to prevent the rain from inundating the balcony floor and everything on it, which includes plants that don't need so much watering. The squirrels don't appear in these weather conditions, but the Jays arrive in any kind of weather, and here are a few photos of them on the tree nearest to my balcony.

EURASIAN JAYS, WILL, BUTTERFLYS, AND BEES.

These are the photos I took this week. It was supposed to be fine weather, and after weeks of rain I was looking forward to some brighter days, but although we did have some sunny spells, it rained most of the time and the grey skies were not favourable for taking photographs. Will's under parts add a touch of colour to these gloomy days,and also my garden flowers  so I include some here, unfortunately many have wilted with all the rain, but it's a nice reminder that it won't be long before spring is here.

I will be linking up to "Wild Bird Wednesday" and "Saturday's Critters"Click on the icon on the right sidebar to get there, where you will see many different creatures from around the globe.