It’s the most wonderful time of the year, according to the song at least.
Ok, I promise not to be the Grinch in this update; I quite like Christmas. Unfortunately, the last couple of weeks of the year always feels like a sprint to the finish line. Yes, there are the usual preparations for the festivities to sort out, but there are also the probably unreasonable (and unseasonable!) demands that I place upon myself. I feel I must “get everything done” – whatever that means – and start the New Year with a “clean slate”. The dreaded end of year recap blog looms large, for example. So, I will freely admit becoming overwhelmed as we approach the end of December and struggling to find my festive spirit.
One of the demands I placed on myself this month was to write and send out my December Viewfinder, which will be in your inbox already if you’ve subscribed. If you haven’t signed up to receive my monthly newsletter, please do. Any subscriptions and comments will mean a lot to me, so thanks in advance to anyone who does this.
I was concerned that writing it would be just another task to add to an already long list, but it was a surprisingly pleasurable experience. In fact, these monthly newsletters are proving to be a useful motivational tool, as well as providing me with an excuse to reflect on my activities.
In the December issue, I wrote about a recent break in the Lake District during Storm Arwen. I don’t want to spoil the surprise if you haven’t read it yet, but I will drop a few teasers here. It involves a trail camera and a video of a tiny, adorable mammal confusing the hell out of a magpie. Oh, and unsurprisingly being without power in our holiday let for a few nights.
Another spoiler is that the image below appears in the newsletter and, seeing as I am starting to feel a bit more festive, here is the story behind it. Back in January, when there was a thick covering of snow everywhere, suddenly the common little robin became my most sought-after subject. When we think of winter wildlife, many people will think of a robin and therefore having images of them in the snow is always a good addition to your portfolio. However, capturing a decent image of this species in the snow is not as easy as you would think!
I went out for a walk across our local golf course, sticking close to the trees and bushes as much as possible in case any robins decided to make an appearance on a snow-covered branch. It was a stunning morning, with the winter sun shining in a cloudless sky and everything muffled by a white blanket. However, the robins were few and far between, only making very brief appearances to fluff themselves up in the sun or check on their territory. Ambling along, with eyes relaxed, allowed me to be alert to any movement in the corner of my vision. When I saw this bird land on this branch and fluff itself up, I was ready to capture a few images before it disappeared in a puff of snowflakes.
The general association between robins and winter may be due to their increasing numbers during the colder months. Our native robins are joined by migrants from mainland Europe, Scandinavia and Russia when the winter climate becomes too harsh for them back home, and they struggle to find food. The specific connection of robins to Christmas comes from folklore, as Stephen Moss explains in his excellent piece about how birds feature in the carol ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ – well worth a read at this time of year.
Right, I’ll leave you with the final robin image above. I’m off to watch Home Alone or listen to ‘December Will Be Magic Again’ by Kate Bush while wrapping presents. If that doesn’t get me to full-blown-festive, nothing will!
