Bird of the Day, theme 'Firsts'

natureAug 3, 202626913,616

Today's Bird of the Day is the theme #Firsts, asking participants to share their earliest bird captures for a daily community showcase. The gallery collects early-career and old digital photos: backyard American Robins and European Robins, a lilac-breasted roller from Chobe National Park, a nervy Kingfisher capture, a piping plover chick no larger than a U.S. quarter at hatching, and a Canada Goose gosling from 2017. Styles range from sunlit winter seascapes and long-ago slide scans to handheld digital telephoto shots that remember the excitement of first successes. Atlantic Birding is noted as a new cohost and the alternate prompt for today is Robins, which many contributors used as their fallback subject.

mjlinde.bsky.social

@mjlinde.bsky.social

AB’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is: #Firsts, your earliest bird capture(s). Alt is @atlanticbirding.bsky.social’s most captured family: #Robins #birds #birding #eck The very first bird photos I saved! I was amazed by all its wonderful colors, and I still am! @luiscavalcanti.bsky.social

A small bird perched on a chain link fence with a cyan colored head and bright patterning on its back almost Aztec in nature, in my humble opinion.

107246d ago

Pepper4

He is stunning! My first thought : his feathers look like a beautiful Indian blanket.

d-d-jones.bsky.social4

This was my first iPhone bird photo - a GBH on water

johnp358.bsky.social4

Nature paints with an elegant brush

thebennifactor3

@blurbette.blacksky.app look at this diva omg

✨️Colette✨️3

Check out his pose. He knows he's beautiful 😍

Bbarber3

God paints very well ❤️

swandiveswim.bsky.social

@swandiveswim.bsky.social

#Birds Atlantic Birding @atlanticbirding.bsky.social on their first day, has chosen the #BirdOfTheDay theme as #Firsts some of your earliest bird captures. Taken with a little Sony Cybershot in 2016, the year I started to take pics of birds instead of only watching them. An agreeable Nuthatch.

A small bird perched on a green suet cage, faces left against a light grey background. It has a narrow black cap & a black eye band through a white face. The breast feathers are light orangish tan & the wing feathers are a slate blue.

89146d ago

Alan H2

Hey, this is a cool catch s. Love it.

lipidguy.bsky.social2

Sometimes nuthatches are seemingly tame or tolerant humans.

@fraudesswrites AKA holly manno2

They have a chuckle chirp.

OuttaMyLaine2

"Will pose for suet." The Nuthatch Motto.

quinn716.bsky.social2

Great photo. In my yard we have lots of the white breasted but none of the red breasted, until this year when we had both. :)

Merisi Vienna2

Beautiful! I also started my digital photography with a Sony Cybershot, in 2005. Mighty fine camera!

SeaLevelOslo

@sealeveloslo.bsky.social

One of my first photos. The light from the low winter sun started interacting with low clouds at noon, which caused this amazing light. The birds stand on rocks just under the surface, far from land. #sea #scape #clouds #BirdOfTheDay #Firsts #birds #photography

A photo from the sea taken around noon in early December when the low winter sun and the low clouds created this golden light. Cormorants appear to stand on water as the skerries are just covered by the tide. Taken with an old Nikon compact, with a tiny sensor, but which gives really nice colors when shooting against soft light.

46646d ago

Eric Olson Photography3

Wow, that’s an amazing “first”!

Atlantic Birding1

Love this shot, really beautiful

Robyn1

This is gorgeous! Well done!

HLK1

This is really, really good!

swandiveswim.bsky.social1

😍👍That's a stunner! A picture like that would get one 'hooked' for sure.

PacBirds

@pacbirds.bsky.social

A lilac-breasted roller from a trip to Chobe NP, Botswana in 2009 for the #Firsts theme of #BirdOfTheDay picked by @atlanticbirding.bsky.social 📷 Canon EOS Rebel Xsi, 250 mm #birds #nature #photography #ECK

Multi-colored bird perched on a dead branch with dead branches in the background

48046d ago

Atlantic Birding2

What a beauty of a bird Pac

Leslie Bulion1

Oh I love this bird! I saw one in Tanzania in 1998-pre-digital!

Jac ✨🧜‍♀️1

Gorgeous! I want to decorate in those colors.

Jill Houlbrook1

I love these birds as seen in Kenya so I have one tattooed on my shoulder.

Glynis R1

Oh my gosh. I didn’t even know these existed. So beautiful! Great capture

Prof Wieden1

Lilac breasted rollers are such beautiful birds. We had the opportunity to see many of them during our 2025 African safari to #Zimbabwe, #Zambia and #Botswana.

Alan H

@alan678.bsky.social

Hi folks my cohost AB @atlanticbirding.bsky.social has said the #BirdOfTheDay theme is: #Firsts some of your earliest bird captures. Alt. is my most captured; #Robins I’m going with a #ForJanet #Robin as my first bird shots were taken in 1989. 😅😅 #birds #photography #ECK

A European robin stands upright on a weathered stone covered with patches of moss, facing slightly to the left. Its vivid orange-red face and breast contrast beautifully with its soft grey-brown back and pale grey-white belly. The robin’s glossy dark eye catches the light, giving it an alert, inquisitive expression, while its slender black bill is closed. The background is a smooth wash of muted green tones, creating a clean, uncluttered backdrop that makes the bird’s colourful plumage stand out in sharp detail.

31946d ago

Graham Jones2

Marra, you are the best. Thank you. This is so beautiful. ❤️🙏🏻

Atlantic Birding2

😂 You’re not going into the attic to dust off the negatives??? I’m offended!

Amy Gann2

😂 ditto! My first photos are on film. First digital ones not easily accessible. I may have to sit this one out😂 Lovely robin photo though, Alan!

Rosemarie2

A great start to a wonderful journey taking beautiful bird photography which lead to all this in BlueSky! You have inspired me and I’m sure many others❤️💙

It'sFromJenni1

Nice one ☺️ Oh, 1989... I was 9 or 10 then... I hadn't even thought about photography yet...

Marjo Slingerland-Boks1

That would be a long way for digging in the film rolls I guess Alan😅 lovely Robin 🤎😘

Atlantic Birding

@atlanticbirding.bsky.social

Good morning All. I thought that as today is my first day, the #BirdOfTheDay theme should be: #Firsts some of your earliest bird captures. Alt. is my most captured; #Robins - Male Reed Bunting, shot in my 1st fortnight of having a camera - The ubiquitous European Robin #birds #photography #ECK

A Male Reed Warbler on a thin plant stalk. The bird is left of centre of the shot perched near the top of tall, dried out plant stalk that is bent over at a 45 degree angle with the weight of the bird. It is turned slightly to look right so that its front, belly and right side can be seen.
Another plant stalk is vertical beside the bird.
The background is an out focus blue sky with two thin, vertical tree branches sparsely covered in green leaves.

29246d ago

Aj d'Wit (Audrey)3

Lovely captures. All the best with your new role. Thanks for helping Alan and Rob out. 🫶

✮: 🎀 𝒥𝒶𝓃𝑒 🎀 :✮2

Nice choice AB .. scuttles off to look in the 30 year archive 😂

Diane Furlong2

Good morning Welcome and congrats on Your first day of presenting the theme. Nice Captures and the little Robin fits nicely with a tag #ForJanet

Sue Ibrahim2

Wonderful shots and themes. Welcome to hosting. (I notice you can't always trust ALTs.🙃)

Graham Jones1

Two great captures to get you started AB.

Alan H1

Excellent themes And captures AB. Good luck today mate.

Rina

@rina2012.bsky.social

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Firsts, the Alt. is #Robins I'm going with a Robin #forJanet 🪶 #birds #birding #wildlife #photography #nature #naturephotography #thelittlethings #ECK #EastCoastKin

A robin is perched on a twig and is photographed from the side. It is looking to the right. The background is a green bokeh.

23746d ago

Alan H1

Wonderfully captured and what an endearing little one it is Rina. 😍😍 I think I’m going with a Robin too as my first photo was taken in 1989. 😅

Marjo Slingerland-Boks1

Awww such a cutie and lovely photo dear Rina🤎✨️

Aj d'Wit (Audrey)1

A real sweet photo, Rina, of a delightful little feathered one. 👌🏼 On a branch she rests, listening to the winds serenade her. Soon love will fill her wings and she’ll chase the light til nightfall. ✨

雪乃しずく（shizukuxuenai）1

Lovely shot, Rina❣ Robins are so adorable…I've seen them on Bsky so much so I've been a fan, although I've not seen them in real😆 In Japan, Japanese Robins (Larvivora akahige) (JP name "Komadori") are summer birds but they are hard to see 'cause not near by humans. I've not seen, hope to do🥰

Aintright

@aintright.bsky.social

Kevin the Kingfisher. Uncropped and just as I saw it down the lens. I'd never photographed a Kingfisher, or even seen one perched, before this. I can still remember my legs shaking as I took it. #BirdOfTheDay #Firsts #Birds #Wildlife #BirdPhotography #ECK

23446d ago

diddlydog.bsky.social1

Great shot - sets a high bar. He certainly picked the spot for you.

Atlantic Birding1

I know that feeling too Aintright; first time I had a WT Eagle in the viewfinder

Tom1

I like it if one sees more context. And these dark colors (colours) are gorgeous.

Kort Duce

@kortduce.bsky.social

Two male northern flickers face off in a territorial dispute at a nature area in Longmont, Colorado. #BirdOfTheDay #bird #birdphotography #ECK #birds #photography #birdsofbluesky #BirdsSeenln2026 #nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography

Photo by Kort Duce

Two male northern flickers face off in a territorial dispute at a nature area in Longmont, Colorado.

In this vertical color photograph, two male northern flickers cling to the trunk of a tree during an intense territorial confrontation. One bird faces the camera, while the other has its back to the viewer with its head turned to the left. The rivals repeatedly squared off, alternating between prolonged stare-downs and brief skirmishes as they pecked at one another with their beaks before eventually tiring and flying away.

The background is rendered as a soft blur of green vegetation, isolating the birds and drawing attention to their dramatic interaction.

This image captures a fascinating display of territorial behavior between two male northern flickers within the riparian habitat that is essential to their survival.

23545d ago

Therese O'Donnell

@tessod.bsky.social

This sweet piping plover chick is no larger than a U.S. quarter at hatching. This started me on my #bird journey #BirdOfTheDay #First @atlanticbirding.bsky.social The adults use the ole' broken wing trick when they perceive their chicks are threatened. #Birds #Photography #Nature

The piping plover (Charadrius melodus) is a small, sand-colored shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America.In 1986, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listed the Great Lakes population as endangered and the Northern Great Plains and Atlantic populations as threatened. Their breeding habitat includes beaches and sand flats on the Atlantic coast, the shores of the Great Lakes, and in the mid-west of Canada and the United States.After chicks hatch, they are able to walk within hours, and must have access to feeding areas to feed on marine macro invertebrates.

19746d ago

PacBirds1

What a terrific way to start photographing birds! 😍

DDunn1

Very cute. Great way to start your #bird journey.

Eric Olson Photography1

Interesting factoid: That bird is the size of an ant. Great photo. 😄

Lori Batchelor🇨🇦

@lorichirp.bsky.social

Welcome to Atlantic Birding, a new cohost for #BirdOfTheDay! Themes for today: #Firsts some of your earliest bird captures. Alt. is #Robins #birds #photography #ECK From May 2017 a Canada Goose gosling!

18646d ago

SeaLevelOslo3

Great shot! ✨ And well done getting so close 🪿😅

Atlantic Birding1

Very cute Lori. Thanks for the welcome

Neil Cameron1

Oh that's just lovely, Lori!

simmcewen.bsky.social

@simmcewen.bsky.social

A black-capped chickadee from 2015 (the summer I got into bird photography) #firsts #BirdOfTheDay #nature #wildlife #photography

A color photograph of a black-capped chickadee perched on a branch in a Japanese maple tree.

18246d ago

Barrie Cull1

I love those colours and the stance of the Chickadee - it’s a beautiful photo 👏

froure.bsky.social1

That's a really great pic, the composition is very cool!

Lyn1

Such a pretty, delicate photo.

Michael R Photography 🌿

@msriffle.bsky.social

Atlantic Birding, @atlanticbirding.bsky.social, says today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Firsts. This image of a beautiful tricolored heron was made back in 2019. #photography #wildlife #ECK #birds #birdsinflight #Birdsky #birders #Nikon #herons

17446d ago

Atlantic Birding1

Love this action shot Michael

SABUCH1

Now that is an amazing photo.

Eric Olson Photography1

So awesome! Were you ever not talented? 😂

Jimmy Innes

@jimmyinnes.bsky.social

Canada goose on still water reflecting blue skies #BirdOfTheDay is #Firsts. This isn’t my 1st bird pic, but is the oldest one I can find, from 2016. Anything older is hiding in a shoe box or on an old external drive somewhere! #BlueSkyMonday #Birds #BirdsOfBlueSky #Photography #ECK #EastCoastKin

16246d ago

Atlantic Birding1

Great reflection in that shot Jimmy

Alan H1

So so beautiful Jimmy. Fab photography.

Barrie Cull1

A wonderful clear photo with a lovely blue background and a perfect reflection. Congratulations Jimmy 👏

𝙲𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚌𝚑 𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝙸𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜

@churchstreetimages.com

#BirdOfTheDay #Firsts I immediately got hooked on shooting birds when I got a real camera and quickly added a telephoto. This catbird and I stalked each other for a hour till I got this shot. Not the very first but among the first of many. #photography #birds #catbird

A jaunty grey cat bird giving its call from a branch hidden under broad leaves

15146d ago

Bird of the Day, theme 'Firsts'nature

Bird of the Day, theme 'Firsts'

Related