Dripping After A Bath

Blackbirdier in large ("L").

I had a photo-amble in the garden this afternoon with my 70-200mm mounted: I've seen several birds in the garden and squirrels too. There are almost always wood pigeons on the lawn under the big tree in the large garden, and I've seen blackbirds (male and female) as well as a robin, house sparrows, great tits, and blue tits. This afternoon I saw the robin and the squirrels, but the stars of my photo-session were Mr. and Mrs. Blackbird. This is the female after an epic washing session in the bird-bath/waterplant pot in the small garden. She was dripping wet and had all her feathers fluffed up here. I enjoyed photographing her splashing about, but it wasn't bright enough there to use a really fast shutter-speed (to freeze her motion and the droplets in the air). The male was also entertaining as he hopped about and dived into the compost heap. They're both quite confident and didn't seem to troubled by my presence (within reason...). I kept still and low and managed to get quite close to both, but this is also a rather tight crop from the original image...

I really enjoyed watching them, even if they've got short necks and un-webbed feet... *Sigh*