The Early Bird

This blackbird visits every morning to be fed raisins or sultanas. Like most of his ilk he's quite easily alarmed and even camera-shy. He's handsome, but in this picture you might discern that he's a tad irritated; I'm late with his morning meal.

I'm pretty certain this is the same blackbird who wakes me nearly every night at about 4:20am. I ought to be annoyed (after all when my wee kids used to wake in the middle of the night I was pretty grumpy); BUT his song is SO beautiful - I lie there half-awake basking beneath rhapsodic melodies …. I actually tried to take some pictures of him at about 4:50 this morning (a dog, who'd probably also been woken by the black-bird-song, needed out for a pee)… they were rubbish (befuddled).

I love this bird.