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Bird of the Day, theme 'Wild Motion'

natureJul 4, 20261373,499

Today's Bird of the Day theme is Wild Motion, a prompt to freeze dynamic wildlife behavior in a single energetic moment, with an alternate Peekaboo option for birds peeking from cover. Gallery entries lean toward action shots and tense mid-movement moments: swallows weaving over long grass, an Atlantic Puffin flaring and preparing for touchdown, and a green heron and kingfisher captured mid-flare or lift. Some contributors pushed the theme toward the dramatic, posting a wedge-tailed eagle about to land on a kangaroo carcass and a great blue heron flying away after catching fish, while others took the Peekaboo route with a robin, a juvenile wheatear in a rabbit burrow, and a European starling peeking from a saguaro. Look for fast wing beats, splashing guillemots, bathing bluejays, and leaping mangrove cuckoos under the hashtag #WildMotion.

Alan H
@alan678.bsky.social

Good morning birders. Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is: #WildMotion, Dynamic wildlife behaviour, freezing a second which is full of energy. Does not have to be in flight. Alt #peekaboo, birds peeking from behind anything. Barn Swallow weaving so very fast over long grass. #birds #photography #ECK

A graceful Barn Swallow flies fast and low over a vibrant green meadow, its long, deeply forked tail streaming behind as it skims effortlessly above the grass. Captured side-on in mid-flight, the bird’s glossy dark-blue upperparts, warm buff underparts, and distinctive dark throat stand out against a beautifully soft, blurred background. The minimalist composition and sea of fresh green emphasise the swallow’s speed, agility, and the fleeting beauty of a summer hunt over open countryside.
27310h ago
Mark Simmonds14

Here is my #birdoftheday #wildmotion Pallid Swift flying past my house here in Spain

Neil Cameron5

Nicely done! We all know how hard those little buggers are to catch in flight.

Atlantic Birding2

Nice shot Alan; hard to get. The uniform background really adds to it

Dr Anke Marsh2

Fab shot! Swallows are an absolute pain lol. I think I have two not complete blurb shots out of god knows how many I’ve taken 🤣

A-Girl-Called-Ronnie 🇳🇱1

So very fast and yet so well captured, Alan! 👍

toritori1

Great shot and a fantastic theme, Alan! 😊 I’ll join in later!

HLK
@hlkfotos.com

Visited these swallows nesting in the wall of Bless Your Heart Burgers yesterday. Not sure what kind of pipe that is, but I'm glad the heavy rain we had several days ago didn't wash them out. #BirdOfTheDay #WildMotion 📷🌿🪶

A photo of a violet-green swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) nest inside a drain pipe in the side of a corrugated metal wall. Three brown and white feathered chicks are visible in the pipe opening, in focus and facing the camera, their bright yellow and red mouths wide open as they beg for food. Slightly out of focus in the foreground, with iridescent green back and violet wings and tail, an adult swallow approaches the nest cavity with wings spread wide.
1759h ago
The Garden Jungle
@thegardenjungle.bsky.social

#WildMotion is for todays #BirdOfTheDay, so here is an Atlantic Puffin flaring and preparing for touchdown #birds #thegardenjungle #wildlifephotography #birdwatching #shropshire #UKwildlife #birdphotography #canon #photography

Atlantic Puffin
1347h ago
🌸 Soft Blossom1

Kinda forgot those things can fly.. lol

Gray
@grays.art

Excited Green heron (Butorides virescens) Crew flint pen strand trails Bonita Springs, Florida 7-1-26 Alan & Rob’s #BirdOfTheDay theme: #WildMotion, freeze dynamic, and energetic wildlife behavior. Alt #peekaboo: birds peeking from behind anything. #birds #colorADay #greenSat #ECK #threeWordGenre

Small heron standing in shallow water, its feathers ruffled; dark, spiky crest raised, with a chestnut-colored neck, a dark cap, and blue-gray wing feathers with pale edges; sharp, dark bill points forward, and its bright yellow eye is visible; yellow-orange legs resting on rocks at the water's edge; and a natural bokeh background of aquatic plants and clear, rippling water.
1426h ago
Gray19

Less enthused Green heron (Butorides virescens tranquillus) for your comparison and contrast, from the same photo session, though instead of squatting, I was standing. 7-1-26

Peter Sealy Art & Photography2

It looks like it just touched a live wire!

markasteele.bsky.social1

Another great pic! A couple of weeks ago I spent 6 days canoeing in the Hell’s Bay area of the ‘Glades, and unexpectedly the most numerous heron I saw (and heard) was the green.

Luis D Caldero1

Wow, such a beautiful bird & shot Gray...👌🏻❣️

franceflo.bsky.social1

Shaking it up , great timing 😍

Will W 🐝🐺🇪🇺1

Bad feather day. Lovely picture

PJ 🇮🇪☘️
@knotweed-ireland.bsky.social

Robin perched on a bird bath for Jane’s @javajanegallery.co.uk 'Small Bird Saturday' theme. #SmallBirdSaturday #Birds #Robin #Wildlife #Ireland #Nature #ECK #Photography #Birding #NaturePhotography #Birdwatching #BirdOfTheDay #BirdPhotography #PhotographyIsArt

Robin perched on a bird bath
1202h ago
Mark
@msj99.bsky.social

Kingfisher for @alan678.bsky.social #BirdOfTheDay #WildMotion #Birds #nature #photography

917h ago
Kort Duce
@kortduce.bsky.social

A male yellow-headed blackbird perches on a fence post at a nature area in Longmont, Colorado. #BirdOfTheDay #ECK #bird #birds #birdphotography #BirdsSeenln2026 #wetland #wetlands #blackbird #blackbirds #nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography

Photo by Kort Duce A male yellow-headed blackbird perches on a fence post at a nature area in Longmont, Colorado. In this vertical color photograph, a male yellow-headed blackbird fills the frame in three-quarter left profile with its head turned to its far left, revealing the right side of its face. A bright specular highlight in its eye brings the portrait to life. The background is softly blurred in varying shades of green from the cattails lining the edge of a pond. The rounded fence post on which the bird is perched is heavily weathered, its surface etched with deep cracks and grooves. A handsome portrait showcasing the striking plumage and confident posture of a male yellow-headed blackbird in its natural habitat.
932h ago
Dave Meredith
@davemeredith.bsky.social

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #WildMotion. A male European Stonechat taking flight after an insect. #Cheshire #ECK #photography #birds #nature #wildlife #Kodachrome #1990s #ManualFocus

728h ago
Amy Gann
@amygann.bsky.social

Marsh wren is not good at hiding. For the #birdoftheday theme of #peekaboo. #birds #wren #marshwren #protectnature #EastCoastKin

A marsh wren standing behind a single blade of grass. The wren is on a small branch looking toward the camera
703h ago
Mamady1

😂 Not winning any hide and seek games this one.

Atlantic Birding
@atlanticbirding.bsky.social

🪶 Alan has chosen #WildMotion as today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme. Alternative is #Peekaboo I have a series of shots of a male Chaffinch having a bath #birds #birdsofbluesky #birdphotography #ECK #irishbirding #naturephotography #SmallBirdSaturday

A Male Chaffinch having a bath in shallow water. The bird is facing the camera with its head turned to the left to show its left side. Its right wing is in movement; up above its body as it flicks water over itself Droplets of water can seen around the bird. There is a grey, out of focus, strip of path in the foreground.
697h ago
Kevin Wertman
@kevin.wertman.org

Gonna hit today's alternate #BirdOfTheDay also, because I really just love this shot. I posted one from this same session a couple of weeks ago in color, but I thought I'd try the #monochrome approach for this one. 🦉 #Peekaboo #Photography #Birds #Owls #ClassicMono

A black and white photo of a small barred owl, half of which is hidden behind a tree trunk which fills the left side of the frame and catches the sun in the foreground. The owl's one eye that is visible looks at the photographer.
642h ago
SaraG
@hardlikearmour.bsky.social

The Cedar Waxwings were devouring Black Hawthorne berries and I got lucky with this capture of one taking off. 🪶 #WildMotion #BirdOfTheDay

A Cedar Waxwing taking off from a Black Hawthorne shrub. The head and beak are still and in focus. The rest of the body is blurred with motion and the wings are spread. The bird is mature enough to have the red wax on its wing feathers.
639h ago
Dave Oy Green
@misteroy.bsky.social

‪Today's #BirdOfTheDay is #WildMotion One of my favourite Goldfinch photos. Lots of motion - static sharp face. Works for me :) #birds #nature #wildlife #500mm #NikonD850 #BirdsInFlight

564h ago
Sandra Aamodt
@sandra-aamodt.bsky.social

Mangrove cuckoo caught in the middle of leaping from one branch to another, in Bocas del Toro, Panama #BirdOfTheDay #WildMotion #birds

Long slender bird in mid-leap upward in a tree, claws in the air, getting ready to land on a vertical branch. The bird is gray-brown on top and buffy underneath with a gray cap, black mask, and black-and-white stripes on the underside of its tail. The beak is black on top and orange on the bottom.
508h ago
ronm123photo
@ronm123photo.bsky.social

Sorry, but as Alan has set today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme as #WildMotion, dynamic wildlife behaviour, freezing a second which is full of energy, I have to go with another white-tailed eagle shot frozen in motion… #birds #photography #birdwatching #birdphotography #seaeagle #whitetailedeagle #eagle

A white-tailed eagle frozen in motion as it flies low across the sea.
477h ago
alisonwillis1.bsky.social2

Can't get enough photos of White Tailed Eagles. Don't apologise. Awesome shot 😍

Neil Cameron1

I love raptors, but those things scare the begebus outta me! Not really, they're quite majestic. They can't help it that they look like Barry the ex-boxer from down the pub who had a win-loss record of 102 fights, lost 101 won 0. No one knows what happened in the other fight. Great shot, Ron!

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