Merry Meet and Merry Part, and Merry Meet again

Monday, March 14, 2011

Not My Best Work

Photography...I will give it a shot! (sorry, bad bad pun). Anyhooo...Sunday morning and the bird feeders were very busy. A large flock of common redpolls landed in the back garden. They are migrating through and I was so excited. Grab the camera, quick! Down like invading raptors come three grackles who are large and very wing-flappy (official technical ornithological term). Away go the redpolls and I haven't seen them since. So there is a photo I did not get.

I have been desperately trying to get photos of the Northern Cardinal which is my most favorite wild bird. Gosh, they are beautiful. Vivid red against a snow-covered pine tree. Lovely! Yesterday, shortly after the grackle vs. redpoll incident, what to my wondering eyes appear but a male cardinal, in all his red glory. Right on my feeder. So quick, again. Grab the camera. The feeder is twirling a bit. Here is the result of my photographic effort:


Can you see him?  He is right there, look carefully! Away he went and has not returned....yet. I will get him, you'll see.







I did get a fair, somewhat blurry shot of a male and female house finch. Not that great though.

My goal now is to capture beautiful photos of all the backyard birds. You will be impressed, I swear. The elusive cardinal will be mine! And hopefully many other gorgeous feathered creatures. The hummingbirds will be back soon from their tropical vacation. Those should be easy to photograph, right?

Keep watching this blog for the latest in spectacular wild life photography.  You will never need to buy a Audubon magazine again!!

7 comments:

Aine O'Brien said...

Ha!!! I did see the cardinal. I used to wait anxiously for the pair of cardinals that came to visit each year. Nature photography is challenging because, as you know, they nature doesn't always cooperate!!

~*Gumbo Soul*~ said...

HA! I so feel ya. I love your bird shots! They look a lot like the ones I turn out.

mxtodis123 said...

I just got a camera for Christmas and am still trying to learn. It's not as easy as I thought it would be.
Mary

The Traveler said...

I saw the little red guy! I haven't been spending a lot of time noticing the birds outside, but I think I'll start watching the little guys now =).

Anonymous said...

I did find him :-) :-) Birds are hard to photograph to be honest! They are always flying around and sit down only for a couple of seconds.

I too love those Cardinals! We don´t have them over here but we do have our Bullfinches instead :-)

Have a great day now!
Christer.

Lady Caer Morganna said...

Cool! My mom gets Blue Jays, Red Cardinals and such visiting their back yard every year. They really are quite beautiful! The only thing about BLue Jays is that they like to dive after outside kitties! Fortunately, all my cats are totally indoor.

Kim

Strell said...

Well, time to get out the safflower, Robin, although you say grackles like your safflower, they flee our yard when I change over from sunflower. The cardinals, abound, the goldfinch get their thistle and all is good when sunflower is removed. I'll be watching your blog for wonderful photos. Cannot wait for the springtime birds and flowers. As an added note, the squirrels leave as well with safflower fed. :0)