The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is now a regular at our bird feeder where he takes his time munching on sunflower seeds until he has his fill, or until Blue Jays come and chase him away. Today I used my camera with a tripod to get some better photos of him.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak:”So you really wanted to take my picture, huh?”
What about the American Goldfinch who started all these photo shoots? Here he is.
American Goldfinch.
He was joined today by a pair of Cardinals who waited patiently for the Blue Jays to finish their meals.
Male Northern Cardinal.
Female Northern Cardinal.
neihtn 
Beautiful images … just delightful. Thank you for sharing 🙂
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Thank you! Glad you like the photos.
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What a beautiful series, Hien, each so special. The female Northern Cardinal is stunning!
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Thank you Donna!
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I love these photos particularly because we do not have any of these colourful birds in the UK. The grosbeak is well-named, although I hope it means “big beak” in German, not the other meaning of “gross”.
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Grosbeak describes the large beak these birds have, so you are right about the German “gros” being applicable here. Thank you for commenting, Emma!
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You’re really doing well with the birds at the feeder! It’s a good thing that you are feeding them, as the local news station just did a story on how badly many species of birds have had it this spring due to the rotten weather we’ve had in both of our regions.
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Thanks Jerry! I am guessing that when a winter is bad for us, it would be the same for birds and wildlife in general. Bad weather brings more birds to the feeder.
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Truly beautiful photos, Hien. Thanks for sharing! Marcus
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Thank you!
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Great shots, Hien. Such beautiful birds!
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Thank you Eliza!
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Lovely photos, Hien. I have questions: (1) do you crop all of your bird photos? The reason I ask is that the bird looked VERY small in my photos even though I was shooting with 500 mm FL. I was surprised and disappointed at how small they looked ;-( (2) it’s hard to focus, right? I used a tripod, and did both auto focus and manual focus, but my photos are not as sharp as yours. Is it because I was shooting through the window? (3) My neighbor has a bird feeder. How come I only saw grey or black birds (and robins)? Is it because what they put in the feeder? Or it’s Minnesota thing? ;-(
Thanks in advance.
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Thanks Helen. Answers to your questions: 99% of my photos are cropped, and all of the bird ones are certainly cropped because I can never get close enough. It’s hard to focus because the birds normally won’t hold still. I try to use a high shutter speed if possible to minimize blur due to their movement, and in so doing sometimes I have to bump the ISO up, or widen the aperture, or both. I also try not to shoot through a window or glass door, which is not always possible in the winter. The birds that come to a feeder may vary because of your region, or because birds do prefer certain kinds of feed. I found that sunflower seeds are the best. But birds that eat worms or insects may not come in that case.
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Thank you so much, Hien. My husband agreed to get a bird feeder this year– yeah. I am just hoping we will get some pretty birds. I think part of the reason that you have so many wonderful birds is that you have many trees in the yard, which we don’y ;-( Oh well, I am going to give it a try anyway. 😉 Have a wonderful evening.
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