Tuesday, December 7, 2010

While an American Robin picks a berry...I'll pick the winner of the "Great Penguin Rescue" giveaway!

What a close-up! This American Robin was sitting right on the other side of my living room window. He was so intent on snagging berries he didn't mind me on the other side of the glass snapping away.

The colder temps suddenly made these crabapples very appealing to the birds. Usually they don't munch on them until late Jan or Feb, but this year they are fair game now...
"Aaa-hem (which is the sound of a Robin clearing its throat), don't you have a job to do...Peanut?"

You are so right Robin, it's time to pick the three winners for the "Great Penguin Rescue" giveaway! (Click here for a review of the book.)

I printed out all the comments for the past week and cut them into strips.

I then folded each one and dropped them into a big Christmas bowl, mixing them up a lot.

Then Matty pulled out the first winner!

"Uh...Mom, did you take your name out of the comments?"
"Errrrr...no. I forgot."
"Looks like you won!"
(Oh brother! The ironic thing is, if you look at the comment it's the one I wrote to the author, Dyan deNapoli, after she left a comment!)

Matty then drew the three real book winners:

The first was Roy from England. His blog is "The Fenlandwalker Birding and Countryside Blog!"

The second was Warren from England also. His blog is "Pittswood Birds."

The third was Mona from Montana. Her blog is "Montanagirl."

...who can stop drawing names? We couldn't...and as a surprise, we had more to give away. I had four cards left from the Oxbow fundraiser and two prints, so we decided to draw three more names:

The Cardinal cards went to Sarah, whose blog is "Plastic Acid" (which is cool because I just won a card giveaway on Sarah's blog and the cards arrived today!!).

The print of the Eastern Meadowlark in a field of poppies went to Hilke, whose blog is "One Jackdaw Birding."

The print of the American Goldfinch on the sunflower went to Pix, whose blog is Rural Rambles.

Thanks, everyone for participating! It was so much fun watching Matty pull the names out of the bowl to see who would win. If you were a winner and want to claim your prize, email me your address so I can send you your book, or cards...or print!

38 comments:

Susan Ellis said...

Not one of the names to win a prize sadly, but have to say that your photos of the Robin are absolutely amazing!!! and, actually, I do win! First to post. Yay!

forgetmenot said...

Totally incredible photo of the robin---how DO you do it!!!

Margaret said...

Bravo on this photo! I have been so busy lately and miss looking at all the art blogs. I will settle in my comfy chair (practically unused!) one evening this week and have a long look.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hi Kelly, Love your photos of the Robin. He really was paying no attention to the lady with the camera, was he???? The Robins only come to our deck and feeders when there is alot of snow on the ground and they can't get to it to eat. They will come to the feeders then.

Congrats to all of your winners.
Hugs,
Betsy

holdingmoments said...

Congratulations to all the winners.

That Robin with the berry, is just amazing Kelly. A winner too.

Timaree said...

Wow, what super pictures you caught. These are fabulous!

Congrats to all the winners!

grammie g said...

Hi Kelly...marvelous photos of the Robin...the colors are a great blend!!

Murr Brewster said...

Oh my, who cleans your windows?

Sue said...

What a great picture , Kelly!!!
We had no berries this year due to a very late frost--I will miss seeing all the different birds they attracted.

TonyC said...

Lovely closups of the robin, kelly.

Laure Ferlita said...

LOVE those close-ups! Awesome shots!

Congrats to the winners! Lucky "birds!"

Jayne said...

Oh my Kelly... that first shot is AMAZING!!!

Rural Rambler said...

Kelly thank you so much! How lucky am I that you decided to draw three more names! I am so excited, just thank you :) Thank you too for introducing us to the The Great Penguin Rescue. It is on my Christmas list to Santa. Goodness I love Goldfinch! They are very busy at our feeders right now. Oh My!!!

Rural Rambler said...

Kelly I got so dang excited when I saw your comment and clicked over here that I forgot to tell you that the two pictures of that Robin are A-mazing! They are so close-up and tack sharp that you can see that he needs a napkin to wipe off his little birdie beak!

Oh! and congratulations to the other winners!

Wanda..... said...

Your Robin photos are extraordinary, Kelly!!!

Christmas Card Quality!!!

Warren Baker said...

Great Robin Photo's Kelly :-)

ooooooooh!!! I'm a winner!!
Ive never won anything before, i'll send you my address privately, it's gonna cost you a bomb sending those books to England :-)

ShySongbird said...

Kelly, Kelly, Kelly!!! The Robin photos are just INCREDIBLE, I could look at that first one for ever :)

The Snowy Egret photos on the previous post were stunning too and well done on the fundraiser. Hope you are feeling much better now!

Anonymous said...

Wow Kelly - your photos are absolutely stunning! The one of the Robin with the berry in its mouth is an award winner!

And congrats to the winners of my book - I hope everyone enjoys it. Thanks again for your wonderful review and for the giveaway Kelly!

Lois Evensen said...

Congratulations to all your winners.

I don't think I have ever seen such beautiful images of Robins. Wow. Those are just fabulous!

Jen Sanford said...

That first photo of the robin is truly amazing!

Out on the prairie said...

Very nice closeup, I hope the berries last all winter. Congrats to the winners!

FAB said...

Amazing head shots of the berry eater Kelly.

Congrats to all your winners. FAB.

Montanagirl said...

Hi Kelly - Those Robin photos are just "amazing"!! So sharp and clear! Wonderful shots. Just can't say enough good things about your photography and your blog.

Claire M said...

Awesome photos of the Robin!!

P.S. I love the red bird in your blog header. Gorgeous!

Ken. said...

Hi Kelly
Trust me not to read your blog for a few days.
I love the photo's of the Robin. you certainly couldn't have got much closer.
Terrific Kelly

Anonymous said...

Stunning shots of the Robin Kelly.
Wow! me a winner, my goodness.{:)

Elaine said...

The robin photos are supurb! Lucky you to get him so close up and personal. The robins are a summer bird here and they find lots to eat on the ground and in the woods, so I have a hard time getting very close to them. Hmmm, I need to try planting something with berries on it right close to a window....

Congrats to all your winners!

Andy said...

Wow, O, Wow, I really like that first photo of the Robin eating the berry. First class!

Caroline said...

Absolutely stunning photos! Lucky winners!

Felicia said...

Gorgeous photos! I love how the color of the berries goes with the color of the robin's bill and breast. Very Christmasy!

Janice K said...

Love the Robin picture. Looks like he has whiskers!..

Chris said...

Wow those close-up are terrific images! Incredibly beautiful! your small competition was really nice ;-)

Kelly said...

Congrats to all the winners. I'll try to get these books mailed out this weekend!

...and thanks for the comments on the Robin. What a sweet one she was. My windows are hardly sparkling so I have no idea how the image came out so crystal! I love it when really nice surprises show up--this little Robin was one!

Sarah Knight said...

Thanks! And congratulations to the winners!

Those robin photos are magnificent! I totally have photo envy, and wish we had something more interesting than evergreen bushes in front of the windows (we usually get a chipping sparrow nest every year, but that's it). It must be so cool to see the birds hanging out directly on the other side of the glass.
: )

Tammie Lee said...

Are you saying that you took those amazingly clear photos through your window? They are gorgeous!!!! Might I suggest you submit them to magazines?!

Oh to the lucky winners, so fun that you picked extras!

Joop Zand said...

Wow....nice pictures Kelly, that bird is amazing.

greetings, Joop

Garden Lily said...

Beautiful robin photos - so nice of him to color match the berries, too!

Kelly said...

...thanks, again! I'm so happy this guy perched outside my window. He was very efficient in the way he would pluck the berries from the tree...and fast gobbling them down!!! I was so happy to see I caught one in his mouth.