Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Evil Robin


This evil looking bird is one of the creatures I encountered the day after I met Flynn the Fox Squirrel. Surprisingly it is just a robin. Robins aren't known for doing any harm to humans, and this one was no exception. But it still looks kind of sinister to me.

In reality I watched this robin and a few others for several minutes. They were all eating the berries from this tree. One by one they flew away to a bigger tree across the hiking trail. This was the last one left on this tree so I moved a little closer for some better pictures.

Right in the middle of several shots the robin jumped into the air and flew right over my head to the tree behind me. You don't know how glad I was that he didn't decide to drop any bombs on me. What I was left with though was this picture of him getting ready to swoop down right over my head.


Here he is just the way he was when I first got there. He looks like a perfectly peaceful robin searching for a meal. Well, except that he looks a little darker than a typical American robin. There's a reason for this. You see, I happened to be out there as the sun was beginning to go down.

That has been a problem for me lately because I haven't had much time to get out to my hiking trails before night begins to fall. It's getting dark so early here that by the time I'm finished on my trails it is approaching nightfall. Not fair! Not fair!


This same day I had a couple of excellent opportunities to get some excellent pictures of black squirrels, but the light had gone down so far that I just didn't have enough light to get them. I can get pictures in poor light, so that wasn't exactly the problem.

The light had become uneven. There was a little bit of light and a little bit of dark, which is common in a forest. That's when my camera decides that it just can't think, and it refuses to focus correctly on my subjects. That's exactly why it couldn't get those black squirrel pictures. So they all came out blurry.


The same type ofthing ws happening here with these robins, so many of the pictures of them came out blurry. Another problem was that the camera was determined to focus on all the wrong things, such as those branches in the background. I guess it was because they're so much lighter.

In the end I got these few pictures to come out right, but they ended up having this curious effect of having this shadowy look to the birds. I'm kind of glad it happened in this case because these pictures came out looking kind of cool. Ahh, what a world we live in!


One last thing I want to mention is that I brought you as much as five pictures this time to make up for my very evil joke yesterday involving the super powers poll. Of course I planned it all along. It all came about after I talked to a mysterious white-suited man in the woods. He suggested the whole thing. I felt oddly compelled to do as he said.

My new poll will be a much kinder and gentler poll. Even though being bad is so much fun, I decided to try and make being good just as much fun this time. I hope it works. Besides, maybe if I change the poll for the better my pictures of robins will begin to come out bright and vibrant again. I hate being cursed!

19 comments:

  1. You are so very lucky, capturing those photos and to encounter different creatures.
    (and also lucky not getting hit by the Evil Robin's BOMB, LOL)

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  2. Nice shots of the Robin. I've seen a lot of Robin's this fall.

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  3. Ratty

    I've just figured out that your blog is infectious (in a good way), somehow the reader is compelled to just keep coming back.

    Any idea what the robin was eating, I could not quite tell from the photo.

    Bill

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  4. Yo rat man,we have Robins here in the UK too,they are smaller I think with bright red breasts..the males that is.

    They are very much part of the Xmas tradition and are very terratorial in fact they will fight to the death...nice pics.

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  5. If you are evil, you will see evil.
    And the robin is sure not an evil since it never released the bombs on you.

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  6. Robins aren't evil, they're the cuttest thing ever. Don't be mean to the robins ratty!

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  7. Great shots of the Robins Ratty! I haven't seen any around here lately. I have that same problem when trying to focus on a bird sometimes. The camera focuses on the branches instead or the branches are in the way. And by the time I get it in focus the bird usually flies away.

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  8. i like the shadowy effect. it does make this little bird look mysterious. have a great day...hugz!

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  9. The camera is a fickle eye. I have a really hard time with the focus when there is a busy background. Good job on these with backlight and branches.

    Hmmm. It was really hard to choose between hiker and writer. Which do you think I picked?

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  10. Punishment comes in strange ways, doesn't it? I love the evil Robin but I'm puzzled because I didn't know they ate berries...for some reason I thought they were "carnivore birds" because it seems they are always hunting for worms.

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  11. I know your frustration, Ratty! I saw my elusive Cardinal yesterday and was SO excited. But my camera would NOT cooperate..it kept focusing in on the branches and making the bird blurry...no matter HOW I tried. And it was at dusk, so the lighting wasn't cooperating either. I was so frustrated, and ended up NOT getting ANY good ones of him.
    Oh, and your poll is too hard...I am a nature lover who hikes and loves to do photography...so what do I pick???? LOL

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  12. Very nice pics of the Robin! Seems like you were in the right place at the right time!

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  13. Ratty it seems Robins in the UK and US have a common trait i.e. they are very territorial.

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  14. I haven't seen any robins in a while. I did see a flock of birds (type unknown) the other day. They swooped low over my head, no bombs, and they were so close I could hear the rush of their wings. An amazing experience.

    Jen

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  15. Ratty, if you happened to encountered the out-of-focus moment again, switch your camera to manual focus, adjust the ring and shoot. Manual is much more reliable in time like that.

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  16. Wow..the first picture is action packed! In this series, they do look devilish..

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  17. @Sugar Daddy Dating
    Sometimes it's luck, but I go to those places on most days so some is inevitable.
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    @DK Miller
    There are robins here all year long. I'll have plenty more.
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    @Bill
    Thanks. The robin was eating some kind of berries from the tree, but I haven't figured out what they are yet.
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    @I am Stan
    Our American robins were named after your robins because they both have that red breast. Other than that they are only distantly related.
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    @Rainfield
    You're right. I saw an evil robin because I was so mean to everybody with my poll results. That's why my next poll results will be nice this time.
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    @Chinese Lanterns
    The devil made me do it, but I've learned my lesson. Robins are the only birds that let me take their picture whenever I want.
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    @Ginnymo
    The good thing about robins here is that there are so many that eventually I can get at least one.
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    @PJ
    That shadowy darkness made the robin look really sinister even though it was just enjoying a meal.
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    @Sharkbytes
    I'll guess that you chose hiker, but that's because you're the most skilled hiker I know. Your writing is also just as excellent, so I can see where it would be a toss up for you.
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    @WillOaks
    Oh yes, robins love berries, and they leave purple droppings everywhere from these particular berries.
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    @The Retired One
    I have the same problem with blue jays. I have never had a really good shot of one.

    I have the same problem with the poll. That's why I like this one. There's some of me in every choice. Every choice.
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    @WendyYTB
    Yeah, I got lucky when it flew like that, but that's what happens when you stand there long enough with a bird.
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    @Mike
    I think I'll look further into this trait of theirs. Maybe there's a story in it.
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    @Jen Chandler
    That would be exciting. I'm just beginning to get to see flocks. They've been avoiding me before now.
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    @VanillaSeven
    Thanks for the good advice. I'm really just beginning to learn to use all of the manual settings on my camera. I'm determined to know how to do all of it by the time next spring arrives.
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    @Icy BC
    Yeah, the whole story is centered around that first picture. I love seeing birds in flight.

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  18. Like you Ratty, I love seeing birds in flight so I really like the first photo. Our robins have gone south for the winter so it will be nice to see a robin here ever so often.

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  19. @SquirrelQueen
    I hope to have enough robins over the next few months to entertain, but not enough to overdose you. :)

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