Monday, December 28, 2009

Winter Wren


Winter Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) is a common bird for Europe but in India its a local resident of Himalayas and may migrate to lower latitude only during winter. When I saw this tiny bird on board my ship, it was not shy and I was able to photograph it easily from a close range. The tiny bird was about 9 or 10 cm and was foraging for flies in the ships mooring ropes. It frequently entered into crevices which are formed when a rope is coiled and exited from another adjoining opening.
The bird was photographed off Greece and the first thing I remembered when I saw this winter Wren was a Aesop's Fable about the wren. The birds once hold a contest to crown a king, the bird which can soar the highest was to be the king. The eagle soared higher than all the birds and when the eagle started to tire, the clever wren which was hiding in eagles feather came out and soared far above and was crowned the king. Aesop must have closely watched the Wren, because I realised that the bird was not only tiny but also liked to hide and spotting it in between the similarly coloured rope was quite a task.

Photo details : 300 mm lens , f/5.4 , 1/640 sec , ISO-200

3 comments:

  1. I love wrens ... and you've captured this little guy brilliantly.

    In the mountains of North Carolina, we get Carolina Wrens ... they usually arrive in the winter. This year, however, I haven't seen any and I wonder if their habitat is being destroyed. I hope not!

    Wishing you and your family a wonderful New Year!

    Small Footprints
    http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, those are a fabulous pictures. Well done.

    ReplyDelete