A while ago I read the words of a photographer. He said he takes photos of flight, not of birds.
Somehow, that statement was intriguing for me. What does it mean to take photos of flight? If there is no flying object, there is no flight. So he is not interested in birds, but in the way they are flying.
White stork and House sparrow
I started to think, what do I want to capture when I press the shutter. Is it the bird? Is it its flight? Is it what?
After a while I realized I am interested in bird’s freedom during its flight.
So, for me it is all about its freedom during each flight.
This year I was very happy to discover a nest of White storks.
I cannot tell you how big was this surprise for me. If you want to read more why I love White storks, you may read this post.
Here you have a few photos.
I noticed this nest one afternoon when I was riding my bike.
The juveniles were very attentive.
Two personal notes.
First one. My camera is not working properly, there are three years since I took the very first photo using it so I don’t take photos anymore. Three years and 100000+ photos are enough for a point and shoot camera, I guess. The zoom button it’s not working and the photos are not sharp as they used to be. Even if I cannot afford a new camera now, I have enough photos to post for more than one year. The camera is working a bit but I prefer to keep it for the most important moments with my family, when these moments come. But, I must confess you something: many times in the past I was a bit sad because so often I was losing some special moments being busy to capture good photos. Now, I am more aware of the beauty, more aware of the greatness of everything surrounding me. I am in awe for the creation of God.
Now I try to fill my soul with gratitude for what I have, for what I see, for what I am.
Second one. I am reading some blogs, and if you read these lines, there is a big chance to be someone important for me, a dear blogger whose posts I read. But I feel such a huge pressure because I don’t leave comments. I would like to master better the English language and to be able to write everything I want. I appologize, until that moment, all I can do is to read your posts and from time to time to write a very short comment.
Thank you for reading this post, thank you for taking your time to pay me a visit.
Fieldfare is a migratory bird which breeds in Northern Europe and Asia but moves South during winter. In Romania, he is resident of the Northern regions and a visitor of plain fields.
I had a great opportunity to spot this little beauty in our garden. We have a bush of Thuja orientalis and one of Juniperus communis – full of fruits. I think this is the main reason why he was around our garden.
Today, Petrel41 from dearkitty1.wordpress.com nominated me for an award. For some reasons I don’t like awards, but even so I still like to share with you some blogs I follow for more than one year and I enjoy reading them. And because there were some questions, I will respond here. Maybe Petrel41 want to know these answers.
1. Where do most visits to your blog come from?
Most of my visitors come from the USA.
What is your favourite sport?
I don’t think I have a favourite one, but I always enjoy watching ice skating.
What has been a special moment for you so far in 2016?
Nothing special in 28 days, yet.
What is your favourite quote?
“We see that it is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question, but to make us progressively aware of a mystery. God is not so much the object of our knowledge as the cause of our wonder.”
― Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way
What was your favourite class when still at school?
I liked more than one, but I always enjoyed Painting classes.
Ladies and gentlemen
please welcome to the stage the smallest bird of Europe: the Goldcrest (Regulus regulus).
This very special encounter took place a few weeks ago and I must say, it was awesome.
Three facts about Goldcrest:
* 9 cm in length
* 15 cm wingspan
* 6 g weight (Twenty pence coin weights 5.0 g, one loonie coin weights 6.27 g and Two-cent piece (United States) weights 6.22 g)
When shall I see the white thorn leaves agen
And yellowhammers gath’ring the dry bents
By the dyke side on stilly moor or fen
Feathered wi love and natures good intents
Rude is the nest this Architect invents
Rural the place wi cart ruts by dyke side
Dead grass, horse hair and downy headed bents
Tied to dead thistles she doth well provide
Close to a hill o’ ants where cowslips bloom
And shed o’er meadows far their sweet perfume
In early Spring when winds blow chilly cold
The yellowhammer trailing grass will come
To fix a place and choose an early home
With yellow breast and head of solid gold.
European bee-eaters are very colourful, incredible beautiful birds.
At the beginning of May they return from Africa, where they winter. They eat insects (especially bees, wasps, butterflies and dragonflies).
Bee-eaters are 28 cm long, under 70 gr weight and have a wingspan of about 40 cm.
They live in large colonies. After they return from Africa, they dig tunnels in clay banks and make their nests inside. At the beginning of August, their chicks learn how to fly and how to catch insects.
After yellowhammers, bee-eaters are my favourites birds.
Since I was a kid I know their calls even if, at that time, I had no idea how they were looking like.
I think this is a juvenile bird because I noticed that adult birds have two elongated central tail feathers.
Do you remember those annoyed long eared owls I photographed a few months ago?
In case you don’t remember, you can read more here.
A few weeks ago I heard some strange sounds in the trees of our garden. I searched on Internet and I discovered these sounds belong to Long Eared owlets.
I think there are three owlets.
I didn’t discover their nest but I heard them many times.
When I heard this for the first time was a bit creepy.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any photo of these owlets.
Spring’s arrival has many signs, especially plants and birds. For me, the song of cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is one of those signs.
It was and it still is a joy to hear this mysterious bird singing on fields around our house.
I knew cuckoo it is a brood parasite but seemed to me like a fairytale, like something which might not be very true.
A few months ago I watched on YouTube some videos with chicks of cuckoo ejecting eggs of Reed Warbler out of the nest, I watched videos of small birds feeding huge cuckoo chicks and I could not believe it!
Until a few days ago when I was riding my bicycle and suddenly heard a noise, something like a chick begging for food.
I noticed a bird on a wire .
At the beginning, I didn’t recognized it but after a few moments I was sure it was a cuckoo chick.
And I waited to see who is feeding him.
That little bird was feeding this cuckoo. 🙂
I was amazed to see how such a little bird as a warbler was flying and catching insects and carrying them to its ‘chick’.
Cuckoo doesn’t kill small birds, but sometimes eats eggs and chicks.
In my previous post (link here) you have seen a mystery photo of a corn bunting.
This species is very spread here in Southern Romania and we have these nice birds all year round.
But, tell me, how do you think an amateur photographer can take some decent photos of corn buntings(not the shyest bird, but shy, though) when all he has is a point and shoot camera?
The answer is overwhelming/amazing/put-a-word-you-like-here: using a laundry dryer rack, two white sheets and a great amount of patience. This is perfect mostly during Winter when Corn Buntings come to our garden in search of seeds. There is no secret I feed these birds and from time to time I take them photos.
While waiting, some birds are just a few centimeters above you. Many times I just couldn’t resist and I touched the sheet under their feet.
But enough about the ‘superb gear’ used for taking these photos, let’s talk about corn buntings.
Scientists say that Corn Bunting declined in N-W of Europe due to our ‘modern’ agricultural practices. These ‘lovely’ practices, by one hand, grow profit of some entities, but, on the other hand, deprive birds of their food, I mean seeds and insects.
They primarily eat various seeds but feed their chicks on invertebrates.
This bird is declared extinct in Ireland and in England some organizations try to implement some measures in order to conserve this species.
Corn bunting is around 19 cm long, its wingspan is less than 30 cm, weighs around 50 gr and has a large and conical bill.
Its nest is built right on ground, made from grass, and the female lays up to 5 eggs once or twice a year.
Corn Bunting is very similar to Yellowhammer, just a bit larger than Yellowhammer.
During Winter, it gathers in small flocks and many times you may see on fields trees full of birds, like the one below.
You may read more here(wikipedia.org), here (britishbirds.co.uk), here (arkive.org) and here (birdwatchireland.ie). And, if you know Romanian, check this link(animale-salbatice.ro).
For me, one of the most beautiful birds will always remain the White Stork even if is a B&W bird, even if it’s mute bird and even if I have the chance to see it close to our house only for a few days per year.
Sometimes, telling stories isn’t an easy thing because there are present some feelings which make you not so objective as you should be.
When I was a kid I was so glad every single time I heard “Look, the white storks are back!” and I was staring for minutes at those beautiful creatures flying above me.
Once, I waited this moment for a few weeks and when that day came, I tried to get as close as I could to them and catch at least one just for a moment, to feel its feathers, to hug it and talk with it. I know, this sounds silly now but then was something so powerful, so exciting, so great and words can’t express those feelings.
Now I ‘catch’ them using my camera but those feelings I had when I was a kid are, somehow, still there in my heart.
Because some of you ( like Jerry Vis who has a lovely blog, quietsolopursuits) live in some areas where White Storks aren’t present, I publish this post.
During past years I published some photos of White Stork, so you may check a post with more information about them here, some storks on fields nearby our house here or here; a juvenile white stork here and another white stork in flight here.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, I mean a flock of white storks ‘begins’ with few storks. March 26, 2015.
White storks rely on the uplift of air thermals, so it’s something usual to watch them spinning again and again. They soar long distances between Europe and Africa during migrations. This photo is taken on Thursday, March 26, 2015.The maximum extent across the wings of a white stork is about 220 cm (85 in) compared to only 70 cm (27 in) wingspan of a dove .
Just to make an idea about its size, lets compare it with a dove. A white stork weights around 3.5 kg (123 oz) and a pigeon weights around 0.4 kg (14 oz).From place to place they rest on fields on their journey back to their nests.Sometimes you may notice a white stork with two heads. Just joking, they take care of their feathers.
In this case, through tall grass, they look for insects, amphibians, reptiles or small mammals. But they love fish, too.
In a large number of villages you will notice many nests on poles.With happy families.And caring parents.Some can be seen standing on poles near their nests.
An amazing bird!
Cornell's photos and words 
