A robin at ease with my camera

I had a long chat this morning with my friend Ian M., who lives in Kings Cross. He said it was snowing there but despite being forecast, it wasn't snowing here, yet. We made an arrangement to see a friend play live in a Shoreditch club at the end of the month and I will go and stay with Ian, and I can hopefully visit the Manet exhibition, which I know I will love.

By late afternoon, I was ready for a cup of tea, and while making it, I looked out at all the birds who were gathering to feed in the cold air under overcast sky. I noticed that there were no suet pellets remaining in the dedicated feeder, and as I had bought fresh supplies of them yesterday at the farm shop, I went out to put some out. In addition to the squirrel proof wire feeder, Helena had bought an open tray feeder which blackbirds in particular can stand on and to eat the contents.

I spread some of the suet pellets on the hanging tray and as i did so, I noticed a bird fly right up onto the branch from which it was hanging. It was a robin and was looking me straight in the eye. It did hop from that perch, but only to come even closer to me, possibly less than three feet from my head. Then it hopped straight onto the tray, picked up a pellet, cocked its tiny head up high, and swallowed it straight down its gullet, before closing its beak and looking into my eye again.

I had to go and get a camera, hoping that it would still be eating, but if course when I returned it had disappeared. I stood close to the rhus tree again, a little further back allowing for the long focusing distance of my lens. By now it had started to snow properly after a few earlier flurries, and other birds were tucking into the sunflowers from the other feeders all some way away. At last the robin returned and did repeat its performance though not with as much posing for me. After it had picked up this pellet it hopped up onto the branch and aligned the pellet for the process of swallowing which it duly performed just after I took this shot.

If you look at a larger version, you can just see specks of snow on its head!