THEIR unmistakeable red breasts and plump bodies are familiar to millions.

But few of us have had the magical meeting one Ipswich man enjoyed with a hungry robin – who happily munched on mealworms fed to him by hand.

When Ipswich photographer Matt Woods discovered his father Mac had befriended the tiny bird, he decided to capture its cheeky feeding time with his camera.

The 38-year-old professional car photographer set up his equipment in his dad’s back garden and waited for the feathered friend to appear.

They were taken over a period of about a month between December and January – a particularly cold spell when food would have been hard to come by for the bird.

Mr Woods said: “I wondered if I could get it on my hand and take a picture of it.

“It was amazing because it barely lands on your hand – it’s so quick because it’s still very scared.

“It looks like it stays on your hand for ages but it darts in, barely touches your hand, and darts off again.

“It took me ages to get the pictures.”

Mr Woods managed to capture the pictures of the robin in flight by feeding him with one hand and photographing with the other.

Mr Woods, who is more used to getting shots of cars, admitted taking wildlife pictures with his Nikon D3 camera had been a very different experience – but one which he thoroughly enjoyed. He added: “It was quite an amazing experience because it was so light.

“You could feel the wind from its wings.”

To see more of Mr Woods’s pictures, visit www.mattwoodsphotography.com

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