Robin primps for a day in the sun

The beginning: A bad feather day?

There's an axiom for writers that goes "look at something common and find something uncommon in it." Robins certainly aren't the most exotic birds posted on the Birds of Alaska facebook page. As a matter of fact an ibis has been sighted in western Alaska recently. Now that's exotic, at least in the sub Arctic. Robins were so common in Western New York where I grew up, we barely noticed them. Even around here they get little attention, at least until yesterday. This robin stood on the edge of the little water bath I put out for the birds for a good 10 minutes preening and primping. I think I caught him after he had already been in the pool and this was his cleanup regimen. One thing I noticed was he could turn his head almost 180 degrees and could reach most parts of his body, mostly with his beak but some with a foot. The camera just kept going off in my hands until I had dozens of images. I can be pretty ruthless when it comes to culling pictures but today the fascination with all the poses was too much to resist. I hope others find it as entertaining as I did.

Got to get the pits.

Birds of Alaska on facebook

Am I the only one who didn't know robins could do this?

And … ready to go