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Saturday, August 30, 2014

where do birds sit nowadays?

I’ve been prompted to ask myself this question (and to ponder what they did pre industrialisation) as I search for item 3 in Rinda’s summer scavenger hunt – birds on a wire.

When I first read the list I imagined a lovely image of a blue sky with a row of birds perched on a wire – perhaps all facing the same way, perhaps a nice mix of poses – rather like the decal I have on my bathroom wall

birds-1

Then as I started to look around I realised this was going to be hard.  For a start I don’t see many wires in my normal walks.  When I was taking the train to the Commonwealth Games daily I spotted lines along the rail tracks but taking photos of birds on a wire from a moving train is near impossible and the one time I saw a bird on the wires at the station it was camouflaged against the bushes as I shared in this zoom in zoom out

zoom-30

I took to scanning urban skylines but the birds seemed to prefer the roof ridges

birds-2

as the end date of the hunt drew nearer I even spent some time watching a group of birds on the grass under some wires in the hopes they would decide to take a break on the wires – they didn’t

birds-3

I was despairing of finding birds on a wire and then I spotted some starlings hopping on and off a wire fence – close enough I thought and waited until more than one bird was on the wire and now I’m calling item 3 done

ssh-3

check out how others having been progressing on the scavenger hunt over at Rinda’s blog.

18 comments:

Sian said...

This has been one of the prompts it has been most fun to compare in its different interpretations I think!

BJ said...

ROFL - I have been amusing blog followers with my take on this item. I agree totally elusive, I so Love your interpretations. BJ

Melissa said...

Great job on this item! I'm right there with you - couldn't seem to find any on a wire, but I caught some on a lamp post . . . and there's a wire inside there, right!

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

I had a similar image in mind, but it remains elusive!

Karen said...

Yep, birds on a wire was one of the hard ones. When I finally found some, as I walked toward them, most flew away. I did get a photo of three or four, but it wasn't an easy item to find!

Jimjams said...

I'd assumed that this would have been one of the easiest finds!
But they're hard to spot - I think time of day helps, but with more and more urban areas (like Edinburgh) not having many overhead wires, you have to be seriously looking to spot them. Loving some of the creative interpretations people have found.

~*~Patty S said...

Since I settled for my birds on the wire it seems I now see a fair number of them hah!
Before that they were indeed illusive as you say.
Fun shots here.

Prairie Jill said...

I can just picture you waiting around hoping the birds would jump up on the wires!! So glad you finally found what you were looking for.

Rhodesia said...

Well done I also had difficulty with the birds. After taking one photo though I then had a chance at others!! Diane

Miriam said...

Too funny!

Miriam said...
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Miriam said...
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Miriam said...

Whilst I really do think your post was funny Blogger keeps freezing on me, apologies for messing about with your comments list...still laughing though.

ComfyMom~Stacey said...

I still don't have birds on a wire and I can see a perfectly good set of power lines right from the front of my house.

Carmen said...

Your final "birds on a wire" pictures is great! Those are very interesting birds, too. Great close up shot.

Anonymous said...

I think all of these qualify...
love the birds in the last photo..they look like babies still

alexa said...

You have done really well to get this, Helena - persistence pays off, clearly! Aren't they lovely? They don't look very old yet ...

Unknown said...

Well done, I also found this tricky! I'm sure the local.birds knew I was on a mission & were purposely avoiding any wires!