Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: American Robin

(+5 insets) Creativity Exploration, Incoming! I have always been a creative soul and have really enjoyed exploring my artistic interests as I've grown up and matured. Photography and writing are my greatest passions--they allow me to express myself so clearly in the ways that I feel and what touches my heart. I've explored many outlets though...my career in graphic design gave me freedom to play with typography, composition, colors, layers, etc. As a younger person I loved using acrylic paints to customize model horse figurines. I've also used a lathe to turn pens from pieces of wood, something that's really amazing! Those are just a few examples of my creative journeys. Watercolor Lately I've been seeing watercolor paintings and suddenly it hit me: I've always wanted to try painting and watercolor really sings to me. I should give it a try! WHY NOT? What am I waiting for? So I placed an order the other day, I now have books and have also been watching YouTube videos. Soon I'll embark on this new adventure...I'm so excited! Stay tuned! Doodling At the same time as I was looking into watercolor, I discovered another pastime that people enjoy called doodling, That's something I've always enjoyed (especially during a mind-numbing meeting or being stuck on the phone with someone reciting War & Peace), but I didn't know there was a huge following. Do a search on Google and you'll be amazed! It's a scribble-filled-extravaganza out there! Reading more, I learned there are some important benefits to making doodles. Artistic pastimes of any type are recognized as a creative way to meditate, as most of us know. But doodles too? That got my attention. I've always dismissed my scribbling as a gigantic waste of time, but in fact, they are a good thing to do, especially if you feel out of sorts or want to chill out and relax. I noticed something called "Zentangles" or "Zendoodles," which are practiced on 3.5" square pieces of heavy paper or framed as 3.5 squares on larger pages. The small size is attractive because it's inviting instead of intimidating. Seeing the beautiful designs pushed me over the edge and I've decided to play in that arena too. I never realized that I felt like I needed permission to doodle and now that I'm getting a green light, I'm all over it! Today's Picture Robins are so much fun to watch! Our American species isn't related to the darling and smaller robin in Europe, so I bet it has different mannerisms too. Our birds charge around in the grass with purpose and then stop to look and listen for sounds of animals stirred up by their actions. Bugs and worms are their favored prey and they spend hours stomping across lawns and open ground with creepy meals on their minds. Often a meadow or lawn will have a dozen or more birds all running around this way and that, and it makes for a great show to enjoy. This bird was just one of the many I saw at the big meadow along Eel Lake at Tugman State Park. I've shared other pictures of them, and this one I thought would be a nice pick for a main image. Magnificent bird! :) Today's Insets I'm also including some other neat finds, discovered on my daily walks.... Inset 1: Wooden bird houses erected at the shore's edge were ready for families to move in and this barn swallow was hard at work! Inset 2: One morning I saw a Mallard hen swimming with her babies and managed to get this small picture before she led them away from me! Inset 3: The vibrant, lush forest that borders the trails at Tugman State Park are incredible! Inset 4: I couldn't help myself from capturing the cool texture from a saw on this log. Inset 5: Here's a picture of my first two (current) doodles! I wanted to color them in because I just couldn't resist but in the future I'm going to concentrate on black ink and pencil because I'd like to focus on the meditative aspect of creating new doodles until I have done a bunch of them. :) Thank You For Your Visits! It's great to hear that my babbling doesn't put all of you to sleep, so thanks for letting me know! :) Thanks too, for all of your nice comments too...I have been fighting depression again--it's hard to beat back the sad news hitting me from everywhere--but when I read your thoughts, it brings me right out of the doldrums! :) Here's hoping that the rest of you are doing great! Have a healthy, happy week!!

(+3 insets!) We're Back From our Covid Trip! Best. Trip. Evar! Steve and I got home a few days ago and we're delighted to report that it was the very best trip we've been on since we began our RV camping trips last year! Despite the scary concepts of virus everywhere, we travelled from one place to the next and had a safe and wonderful series of adventures. Our rig is all we could have hoped for--the trailer is just incredible and the truck is handling the load perfectly! We have learned how to slow down, relax, and chill out. I've had time to enjoy hammocks (Steve's a master!), macro photography, reading, writing--even playing video games if the mood suits me. Steve's gotten to chat with folks and make new friends, go fishing, play video games, fiddle around with trailer and truck enhancements, etc. We've been hiking and bike riding, shared weenie-roasts and time with Steve's family. Most importantly, it's a fact that travelling has always been hard on our relationship in one way or another, but not this time!! That's the best part of all and we couldn't be happier about the whole kit and caboodle! Finally, we've even figured out how to bring our whole family with us--frogs, our snake, and of course our parrot and grand supervisor, Pumpkin--and this totally completes us! In the time since we left for our first adventure, the weather turned from warm to blasting inferno--over 100 degrees most days, ugh! This has been a bit of a shock to our systems every time step outside but we're slowly getting used to it. Also, since we now view our trailer more as our home than our actual home, readjusting is a bit odd. The one thing we really don't like about where we live is the incredible summer heat, blah! The moment we got back, Steve's been buzzing around with laser focus towards his list of projects. There are lots of things to modify and add to the trailer, fix and resupply. It's astonishing to see everything he's done in this short time already! Besides shopping for essentials, he's gotten materials for a bunch of things he's working on. Currently he's installing a super-cool attachment that will store and secure our fold-up Porta-Bote to the side of our RV, so we'll have it with us on our next trip! I have been running around the house, updating lists, organizing and preparing for our next trip in a couple of weeks. There's a lot of coordination involved and Steve and I have quite the partnership down. I've also been processing images from the trip but I haven't had time to post them because I have to focus on preparation. However, I'm finally at a point where I can begin putting images up again, so here we go! :) Today's Pictures Our first seven days was spent at a truly lovely campground called Humbug Mountain State Park. I was so happy that I finally had time to relax and take pictures of all types--most especially macro--but I also had time to watch critters and wait for opportunities for good pictures. Walking to the beach one day with my marvelous Sony camera presented just that chance! My main picture shows an American Robin that stopped in mid-run to listen and look for bugs. You will notice that it's wet! Apparently it had just had a bath and wasn't dry yet, what fun! My first inset shows a portrait which turned out nicely too! Insets also include a picture of a colorful chalk-drawn star that was right outside our trailer, and on the trailer door itself, I found this adorable caterpillar! (I captured this cutie with my macro lens) I hope everyone is doing well! Stay safe and comfortable!! Explored on 7/29/20; highest placement #1.

This morning when I went out to take my pictures, I heard a bird singing such a lovely song. I looked to see and it was a robin at the top of a nearby Oak tree! I was able to get close enough to get several pictures, and this one shows it singing!! YAY!! As you can see, it's facing the sun and singing it's lovely heart out! :) What a gift for me, and I'm so pleased I could share this experience with all of you! :) This large songbird is named after the European Robin, but they aren't closely related. A single glance at these two side by side makes it obvious: the European (Flycatcher family) is small, round, and dainty, whereas the American Robin (Thrush family) is large, robust looking and bulkier looking, and it charges around on the grass when looking for insects and worms to eat. American Robins are one of the most common birds in the United States! This popular bird is also the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin. If you would like to know more about his pretty bird, Wiki has a great page here: Wikipedia: American Robin .