My first bird of 2023 was an American Robin, actually it was a flock of about 50 of them flying over my head as I got ready to shovel snow. I didn’t take any photos because I had a snow shovel in my hand and I only took my cell phone outside with me. My cell phone was buried in a pocket in one of the clothing layers that I was wearing to ward off the cold.
American Robin resting in snow – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1/4000, ISO 640, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
It seemed fitting to me that American Robins were my first birds of 2023 because I have a connection to them that goes way back to when I was just a little girl. When I was a young girl of about six or seven years of age I watched adult American Robins feeding their nestlings in front of me as I sat perched on a branch of a tree in my front yard in Michigan.
I can easily recall the sense of wonder I had as I watched those robins tending to the needs of their young and how connected I felt to them in that moment. Watching them changed me. I know that, and that helped me become who I am.
Adult American Robin in winter – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1/4000, ISO 640, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
As abundant as American Robins are I don’t have as many photos of them as I would like in my galleries. These photos of robins in the snow were taken in February of 2020 as they foraged for fruit under some crabapple trees. This year there might not be any crabapples left by February because the birds have been actively feeding on them for weeks now.
I think seeing the flock of American Robins was a great way for me to start off birding in 2023.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my American Robin photos plus facts and information about this species.
A flock of 50 robins???? Wow. Ours are much more solitary and I can only remember seeing them in family groups.
The setting of these photos in the snow really emphasizes the beauty of these birds. As a kid in New Jersey, I never saw one in the depths of winter and remember seeing my earliest “Robin” on February 12, 1949 (yes I still have my original hand-written life list– it was bird #18 towards my Boy Scout Merit Badge), along with my first flock of (surely Common) “Redpoll.” The latter sighting attracted many birders, even in the days of only land lines and word of mouth. It was published in the birding column of our local paper days later, as the author was my mentor and was first to confirm it when we went out a few hours later. PS– My first bird of 1949 was #10, a “Crow.” This year, remarkably and incidentally, just after sunrise, I saw a Turkey Vulture ascend from the deep valley behind the house when I happened to look out the back window. I wondered if it had found a winter-killed deer out there.