Friday 27 May 2011

Friday at the Flicks - Bathing Birds, Clouds, Song Thrush

Juvenile Starlings are always good for a smile when they bathe. Sometimes they soak themselves so much they can't fly. Several times I have seen three or four in the bird bath going round in circles trying to get in the deepest bit of water. Also amusing is the way Wood Pigeons sit out in the open in pouring rain and lift their wings so that the rain can get at the feathers underneath.



It is quite a while since I last made a time lapse video. One sunny day a couple of weeks ago I set up the 350D, a wide angle lens and my home made intervalometer to take a shot every ten seconds. This is the result of just over four hundred individual photos. I forgot that the lens hood would mask the coners of the frame!



Finally a video of a Song Thrush enjoying the remaining rays from the Sun as it reached the horizon. The start of the video is as the recorder saw it. The bird was two houses away from my garden. The second section is a crop I made using Aiseesoft Total Video Converter so the definition suffers somewhat. Also heard in the background are a couple of Blackbirds and a Wood Pigeon.



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

6 comments:

  1. Fantastic videos again John. Who needs a tv?

    The Starlings are always good entertainment value, and The Wood Pigeon is the only bird I've ever seen raise its wings like that in the rain. They always look as though they enjoy every moment of it.

    The Song Thrush was just beautiful.

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  2. Thank you Keith. The first time I saw a Wood Pigeon do that I thought it was injured. Like you I have never seen any other type of bird do it. As with the Starlings they seem to enjoy getting soaking wet.

    The variety in the Song Thrush's song is always a delight to hear.

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  3. I can't believe it is Friday again! Lovely videos John. It always amazes me how the water is always dirtier when the Starlings have been in it, maybe they are secret rugby players ;) I am still reeling from Twosie's comment on your last post about neighbours complaining about bird noise!!! I wonder who they complain to when the wind howls or the rain lashes against the windows or horror of horrors... it thunders! Excuse my sarcasm but I was genuinely dumbfounded.

    The Wood Pigeon looked like it was flagging a taxi down or a bus :)

    The Song Thrush was really beautiful, as I think I have said before it is my favourite song. It sounds like it can never quite make up its mind what it should be singing :)

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  4. Hello Jan. For some reason I keep thinking it is Saturday. Every day I have to clean out the Hedgehogs' water dish after the Starlings have used it as a bath.
    Noise complaints - it's a bit like the people who move into the countryside and then complain about the sheep and cows making a noise. I bet many of the same people have noisy BBQ parties on pleasant sunny evenings.
    The Song Thrush is never boring with its range of songs.

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  5. Friday at the Flicks was wonderful entertainment! Those starlings are quite a splashy bunch and seem to really enjoy their bath! I have never seen a wood pigeon with wings up, so that is an interesting piece of knowledge... was it ever raining! Your timelapse is quite mesmerizing... and I enjoyed the delightful musical serenade of the Song Thrush bidding the day farewell!

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  6. Anonymous said... Wonderful videos, John. So entertaining. I'm glad the wood pigeon got both sides clean; I was worried for a minute there. ;-)

    cheers,
    Wilma

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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