American Robin: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, March 2026 — I wrote a poem last week that featured the “first fat Robin of spring” and this is it (or one at any rate), up on our deck on a cold, snowy morning. As I pointed out in the poem, this Robin clearly spent the winter “somewhere else” where the “living was easier” since our resident Robins around town are looking a bit stressed about now. My theory is that it was not far away…particularly not “down south” (this winter it would have had to have gone very far south indeed to find easier living)…no, it was just deep in the woods (probably conifers) where there is less snow and the trees and their shelter keep the temperatures a few degrees warmer, and the bugs more active. Now that spring is coming, the balance has shifted and it has “come out” of the woods to appear on our lawns and decks. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 at 300mm. Cropped to about 500mm equivalent field of view, and shot through a double-glazed deck door. Program mode with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.