Birds come in a magnificent variety of shapes and sizes and are often stunningly beautiful.
It's winter and the weather is not great for walks, but I decided to take a few photos of the winter aura. I set out for the park. Besides some lovely misty landscapes, I also met some huge flocks of birds including Canada geese, gulls, terns, ducks, swans and coots, I even saw heron!
In addition to taking photos of the park, I decided to take the opportunity to spend some time watching the birds.
I love watching birds for both their visual and auditory beauty. Birds are always fascinating to me, and not only because of their shape, silhouette or colorful feathers, but also because of the way they move, fly and the sounds of their beautiful voices singing.
Some birds can run, jump or stride on the ground like starlings, rooks and blackbirds. Some of them run, shuffling their feet very quickly at time, or jump very fast, like a blackbird or a robin. I've tried to get my camera close to those birds many times, but I've never been lucky enough to get very close.
The blackbird runs very characteristically - with breaks: it runs a few steps or a dozen or so steps, suddenly stops and after a while it runs again. Also, some species of birds that move primarily by walking can jump, such as birds from the raven family, i.e. the magpie, rook or crow.
Legs play an important role in the movement of birds.
I was surprised at how strong legs the legs of a heron are, which I saw in the park by the pond. It's amazing how long he can stand in the icy water, even in winter, and wait calmly for his prey to appear - a fish or a frog in the reeds.
Many species of waterbirds, like the swan or canada goose, have a lobate toe extension or webbing between the toes, which greatly enhances the efficiency of paddling while swimming and diving.
They also use their legs for daily toileting. At the same time, they can stand on one leg for several minutes.
I had a wonderful moment when one of these birds came to me and we exchanged glances. It was really amazing!
The construction of the legs, their length, the shape of the fingers, the type of claws are adapted to the living environment of individual bird species, and often also to the way in which they obtain food.
Birds usually have four toes, rarely three. In the park that day there were a lot of bird footprints left on a thin layer of snow. I'm sure earlier there were pigeons and gulls and I even noticed some heron tracks.
We see birds flying and feeding every day and in every season. They often show up in the open and allow themselves to be observed from a distance. Birds are an inseparable element of the landscape.
Remember that in order to observe birds wherever we are, we should be patient and not make sudden movements so as not to scare them. Otherwise, we won't see a single bird.
What birds have you seen around you? Tell me about it in the comment section at the bottom of the blog.