Tag Archives: photography

Northern Cardinals in Full Color

The Northern Cardinals in this area have been in great form this season. The males have been very dark in color and in relatively good shape (no beak chips) :-).

Northern Cardinal Male on Perch
Northern Cardinal Male on Perch

Interestingly I did some research on why the Cardinals at my feeders might be in better shape this year and found an interesting piece of research from the Oxford Journal of Behavioral Ecology that might be interesting to some of you. In essence their research shows that the redder the male Cardinal the more fertile he is and most likely better nourished and surprisingly happier with his mate (they refer to this as mate quality, you just can’t make this stuff up).

Northern Cardinal Male Hiding in Spruce Tree
Northern Cardinal Male Hiding in Spruce Tree

Regardless of the reasons, the Northern Cardinal is a beautiful bird always welcome in my backyard.

Images captured with Nikon D4s, 600mm f/4 on Lexar digital film.

First Hairy Woodpecker

I don’t know if I have just gotten better at identifying birds, become more observant in my observations or there is a real change in the migrating patterns I am seeing this year.

Hairy Woodpecker about to hit the feeder
Hairy Woodpecker about to hit the feeder

The results however have been pretty meaningful. I have observed several new species (here, here and here) for my neck of the woods the past 4 weeks. Unfortunately most of these observations were short lived.

Hairy Woodpecker on the lookout
Hairy Woodpecker on the lookout

Much to my chagrin many of these birds have already migrated further north. I was pretty amazed when I first saw this Hairy Woodpecker. The brown spots made me think I had somehow seen a Pacific variant which has more brown. Hairy and Pileated Woodpeckers are difficult to to get on film. They are very skittish and I like to be close when I make my images, I like the subject to fill the frame, portrait style if you will. I also like to make images that show point of reference and biology.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet

If it weren’t for my friend Kathy Brown, I might never have figured out what species I was observing. Identifying this bird stumped me!

Ruby Crowned Kinglet "Over the Shoulder"
Ruby Crowned Kinglet “Over the Shoulder”

Ruby Crowned Kinglets are described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as a tiny bird seemingly overflowing with energy, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet forages almost frantically through lower branches of shrubs and trees. Its habit of constantly flicking its wings is a key identification clue. Smaller than a warbler or chickadee, this plain green-gray bird has a white eye ring and a white bar on the wing. Alas, the male’s brilliant ruby crown patch usually stays hidden—your best chance to see it is to find an excited male singing in spring or summer. I don’t think I could have described what I saw any better. This bird moves with the energy and manner similar to a hummingbird.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet
Ruby Crowned Kinglet

With that description I would have had an easier time identifying this species. At first I thought I was looking at something in the Vireo family. However, Kathy quickly pointed out that “There should be more contrast between head and back. Also, a blue-headed vireo would have “spectacles” around its eyes. Take a look at the beak. See how thin and pointy it is?”

Its help like this that makes birding so much fun, there is always someone like Kathy willing to help. Checkout Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirp on Facebook. There are some rally great people associated with this community and Kathy is one of them. Thanks for your help Kathy!

Image captured with Nikon D4s, 600mm f/4 w TC-e14II on Lexar digital film.

Great Day of Photography and a Few Firsts

Sunday on the East Coast was a 10 when it comes to weather. After the long cold winter the beautiful weather was a welcome change, a nice gift to all the mothers on Mothers day. I am very fortunate that I was able to spend the morning with my wonderful mother who I owe the world to.

Then I was able to enjoy the afternoon walking the yard and checking out the feeders. It has been a quite spring at the feeders until last weekend when I noticed a few new species in the yard. Since it rained all last weekend I was unable to really see what new visitors we had.

The first new species I noticed and was able to successfully photograph was the Red Breasted Grosbeak.

Red Breasted Grosbeak
Red Breasted Grosbeak
Red Breasted Grosbeak
Red Breasted Grosbeak

This was actually the first Grosbeak of any kind I was able to photograph.

Red Breasted Grosbeak Red Breasted Grosbeak

It really took 2 days to get glass on these Grosbeaks, they were very shy and skittish. But once they got used to me, the whole family showed up, it seemed to me that there were 2 mating pairs at the feeders.

Red Breasted Grosbeak Red Breasted Grosbeak

Given how great the weather was, I didn’t mind standing outside for 3 hours to make these images. I have some research to do on the other new species to the yard, I think its a Blue Headed Vireo. Once I am sure I will post some images next Monday. Have a great week.

Images captured with Nikon D4s, 600mm f/4; TC-17e on Lexar Digital Film