Robin

Robins, it seems, come in all shapes and sizes – from the tall and thin to the short and squat. They also, perhaps more interestingly, come with very different mindsets. Most, of course, are skittish, shy and distinctly on the nervous size. Not surprisingly perhaps – it must be tough going about one's business fearing that at any moment a sparrowhawk could whizz across and, in the blink of an eye, snatch you from the sky. The robin below, however, seemed altogether more confident. Sitting in a parked car watching the activity around a feeding station, I saw this robin land on a wire fence close by. It stayed there as I wound down the driver's side window; it tipped its head a little, but stayed, as I grabbed my camera. And – as the shutter release whirred away at a few frames per second – it happily posed, first to the left, then the right and then, as if sitting for a set of passport photographs, straight on to the lens, its features lending it a rather disgruntled appearance.