St. John’s River: Cherrymount

This is the part of the river you see from the Cherrymount foot bridge.

And this is the walkway.

You can hear birds sing on both sides of the river. I love taking photographs of birds simply to acknowledge their beautiful presence, but usually I make them a part of a composition. In these blog posts I share both kinds of pictures to showcase the diversity of bird species around the St. John’s River.

Magpies check the ground for crumbs and dog kibble.

Male Blackbird and female Chaffinches: size against the numbers 🙂

Male Blackbird stares disapprovingly, and continues his lunch. Blackbirds are sexually dimorphic species – males and females look very different.

This is a female Blackbird foraging in the undergrowth.

Beautiful Siskins more likely have traveled from Scandinavia or Russia. They arrived in flock, and I spotted them feeding in the Alder tree. In the photographs below: two males and a charming female Siskin.

Of course, there is always a curious Robin.

Male Chaffinch is singing his heart out.

The walkway is beautiful, with many species of trees and shrubs.

Golden willow on the other side of the river is a delightful sight in the grey of winter.

Daffodils planted by Friends are blooming from February.

There is a little pool I always worry about. Frogs are a rare sight, and each one is precious. Tadpoles stay in a tight group when the weather is cold. It takes one thirsty dog to gulp down a whole generation.

All four Tit species can be seen around St. John’s River.

This is a Great tit.

Who wouldn’t like this funny face 🙂

Blue tit is a stunningly colourful little bird. The hue of blue is the most vibrant in the winter months.

Coal tit has a distinctive white mark on the back of its head. Like the other tits, it is a busy and cheerful bird.

Tiny Long-tailed tit is another beauty in the family.

 

If Robin likes to watch you openly, from a close distance, Wren will stay behind the scenes. Don’t be fooled – Wren is always somewhere there 🙂

We will meet again in two weeks. Thank you for joining the walk!

https://inesemjphotography.com/2019/04/06/st-johns-river-confluence/

https://inesemjphotography.com/2019/04/20/st-johns-river-sneaking-through-town/

https://inesemjphotography.com/2019/05/04/st-johns-river-straightening/

www.inesemjphotography Have a wonderful weekend!

81 comments

  1. That wren photo is beautiful! My husband is constantly trying to get photos of the one that lives here, but it is very camera-shy! A few days ago, it came quite near to him and when he ran to get the camera – by the time he returned, it had gone!

    I love your photos, I’ve been browsing them for a quite a while tonight.

    1. Thank you, Val! The wrens are shy, it is true 🙂 Some luck is needed with them. I have a close up picture of a wren though, and here is how I got it. Not moving my camera, I started to slowly approach the wren, a little step at a time, pressing the shutter when I stop. The wren didn’t see my face, and didn’t move until I was at an arm distance and my lens just stopped focusing 🙂 I couldn’t believe I got so close.

  2. Such a beautiful walk through nature and those lovely bird captures. When birds chirp[/sing its the best kind of music. Thank you for taking me along. xoxo

  3. So beautiful, Inese!! I’ve never seen the Siskens, what a lovely colour! And I’ve a very soft spot for all members of the titmouse family and have been feeding them over years on my windowsill and nearby park now – they’re a true joy! 😄 xxxxxxxxxx

  5. Pingback: St. John’s River: Source | Making memories

  7. I’ll have to show this post to Blondie later–I’m so excited to take her on a boat tour in the marshlands next month! We’ve had a few kid birds hanging about our yard–a robin who still has some baby feathers, and a baby grackle nervous to leave his bush. Blondie loves spotting them and waiting to see if the parents come to feed them. We’ll take what we can get, because this is the first year the ducks haven’t nested by our house. 😦
    We had a fox stroll down our sidewalk though! I even got a picture and put it on instagram. I think you can see that in the sidebar of my website…yes, you can! https://jeanleesworld.com/category/blog/

    And those golden willows are magical. 🙂 xxxxxxxx Thanks for giving us this stroll!

  9. Heloooo! I take it you’re back? I imagine your trip was great. Glad you could be with your family.
    Great birds. Drop me a line when you can.
    Cheers.
    B.

  10. I love the little tit birds, a lot!!!!! Your photos of this idyllic place are fabulous. Thank you, Inese!! xx

  11. Those images are birds’ equivalent of street photography. Just as candid photographs portray humans amidst natural surroundings and emotions, the birds in those images have been captured going about their lives singing, tweeting, foraging and darting about St. John’s river. I like how you have made the avian ecosystem a part of the story of the river.

    1. Thank you Uma! Just wanted to highlight this little but beautiful detail of our surroundings. Hope it was a start of a new hobby for someone 😉

  16. Beautiful birds, Inese. It amazes me that you know so many of their names. I love your photos and how you capture some of their expressions. You gave me a huge smile. 🙂

    1. Thank you, Diana! Songbird photography is my recent hobby as I had to slow down and find inspiration in my short walks around the town 🙂

  17. Your photos are always stunning. You must be the quietest person in the world to sneak up on the to take these photos. IN so many of these pics they are looking right back at you. Surprised you can pull this off so smoothly.

    Thank you for teaching me a new term. I had to read about dimorphic. Very interesting indeed.
    Thanks.

    1. Thank you, Joseph! I used to run field trips for Biology students some 40 years ago 🙂 My bird identification skills are quite rusty, to tell the truth, but now that I had to slow down, songbird photography is a right hobby for me.

Comments are closed.