Birds in Snowstorm, and a Deer

Tags

cardinal, carolina chickadee, dark-eyed junco, deer, photography, postaday, snowstorm, tufted titmouse

In the end we only got 4 inches (10 cm) of snow as it was too warm and the storm started out as rain spattering on our roof in the middle of the night. Our feathered friends gathered around the feeder and tried to make the best of it.

Female Cardinal.

Dark-eyed Junco.

Tufted Titmouse.

Carolina Chickadee.

Young deer. This was actually taken at the end of another storm a few weeks ago.

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Red, White, and Blue

Tags

blue jay, cardinal, great egret, photography, postaday

July 4, 2016 is a good day for Red, White, and Blue birds!

Cardinal.

Great Egrets.

Blue Jay.

Here are red, white, and blue, all in one photo, the banner image: East Point Lighthouse at the southern tip of New Jersey.

Cardinal, Downy Woodpecker, House Finch

Tags

cardinal, downy woodpecker, house finch, photography, postaday

Scenes at the bird feeder this afternoon.

A female Cardinal was dining when a male Downy Woodpecker landed.

Female Cardinal: “Hey, I was here first!”

Female Cardinal: “Wait your turn! Scram!”

The Woodpecker flew away.

Female Cardinal: “Some birds have such bad manners!”

House Finch patiently waiting his turn.

Some Backyard Birds

Tags

cardinal, dark-eyed junco, house sparrow, photography, postaday, tutfted titmouse

The May like temperatures of the last few days, reaching as high as the 80F’s (27 C) brought good light and birds to our backyard. Here are a few shots that I took a couple days ago, directly outside and not through the glass of the patio door.

Cardinal at bird feeder.

This is the same Dark-eyed Junco that had a cyst under its left wing.

House Sparrow on magnolia branch.

Tufted Titmouse on magnolia branch.

House Sparrow on deck.

Cardinals in Snow

Tags

cardinal, photography, postaday

We got some more snow yesterday, not much, but enough to make the Cardinals stand out from the mostly white scenery.

Female Cardinal in snow. She’s a beauty.

Female Cardinal. Same beauty, different angle.

Meanwhile a male Cardinal was dining at the bird feeder, unaware of what was going to happen to him.

Dark-eyed Junco and male Cardinal at bird feeder.

As I pressed the shutter a few seconds later, another male Cardinal streaked in, forcefully chasing him away.

Second male Cardinal chasing first one at the feeder.

First Cardinal was reduced to picking crumbs from the snow.

Blizzard of 2016: Other Birds and Aftermath

Tags

blizzard, bluejay, cardinal, dark-eyed junco, jones, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker, sparrow, tufted titmouse

The blizzard of 2016, Jonas, turned out to be one for the records. The amount of snow dumped on our region approached or even exceeded all-time records dating back to the 19th century. I did not measure it at our house, but it took us three and a half hours to clear our driveway, even with a snowblower and three of us working.

Here are a few photos of some of the birds that came to our backyard during the blizzard, with all photos taken through the patio glass door, not an optimal setting.

Blue Jay. One of its feathers was torn loose.

Cardinal. He was brilliant red!

Dark-eyed Junco.

Sparrow.

Tufted Titmouse.

Red-bellied Woodpecker, with Dark-eyed Juncos around it.

Our deck this morning, after Jonas passed through.

Finally, another shot of that cute Blue Jay.

Blue Jay.

Blizzard of 2016: Cardinal

Tags

blizzard, cardinal, photography, postaday

The blizzard of 2016 is turning out to be worse than predicted. We have about a foot of snow already and it is still falling down, while the wind is blowing it all over everything.

Many birds came to our bird feeder, restocked since yesterday with sunflower seeds. I tried opening our patio door a crack to take some photos, and the wind blew snow right into my lens hood! Finally I had to take the following photo of a cardinal through the glass door. Lighting was bad of course, but you get an idea of what is was like for the birds.

Cardinal in blizzard of 2016.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Eye Spy

Tags

blue jay, brown pelican, cardinal, eyes spy, great blue heron, mourning dove, photography, postaday, red fox, tufted titmouse, weekly photo challenge

The link for this challenge is: https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/eye-spy/

When I photograph birds and animals, I try to get a good eye expression, or at least get their eyes in clear focus. Here are my entries for the challenge, all from photos taken this year, some as recently as yesterday.

Great Blue Heron keeping an eye on a fish, which it caught just a few seconds later.

Blue Jay with a questioning look.

Female Cardinal modelling for photographer.

Brown Pelican.

Tufted Titmouse. These birds have some of the most photogenic eyes.

Juvenile Red Fox.

Bighorn Ram.

Mourning Dove.

Goldfinch in winter plumage.

Young Female Cardinal

Tags

cardinal, photography, postaday

This young female Cardinal was shaking and looked wet, but it had not rained the night before. Maybe she had just fledged and was still checking out the world beyond the nest.

Young female Cardinal.

Young Birds

Tags

cardinal, house finch, photography, postaday, tufted titmouse

Yesterday it rained almost all day, and it didn’t stop until this morning. More and more birds kept coming to the bird feeder even in the pouring rain. It wasn’t until this morning that the sky cleared and sunlight came out. The air was pure and clear, perfect for shooting the following photos of birds that were born this year and looked very young and innocent.

Young female Cardinal.

Young House Finches.

Young Tufted Titmouse.

Young Tufted Titmouse.

Birds in Snowstorm

Tags

cardinal, junco, photography, postaday, starling

Yesterday’s snow brought many birds to our bird feeder. At one point I counted more than 20 juncos perched on it and on the nearby magnolia branches. However, as usual, the cardinals stole the show with their brilliant colors.

Male Cardinal and Juncos

Male Cardinal

Female Cardinal

Dark-eyed Junco

One lonely starling also came by.

Starling

Cardinals. Brothers?

Cardinal – Uncropped

Tags

cardinal, house finch, photography, postaday

Almost all of the photos that you see on this blog have been cropped, sometimes drastically, so that their main focus, birds small and not so small, are not lost in their surroundings. Today I was able to entice a male Northern Cardinal to come closer. The resulting image required no cropping, and here it is.

Male Northern Cardinal

In the following photo, a Cardinal was confronting a House Finch. The action took place much further away, so the following photo was cropped to less than half of the original.

Male Northern Cardinal and House Finch

Even though he was smaller, the House Finch stood his ground and did not budge from his perch.

 

Mohawk and Others

Tags

cardinal, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker

It warmed up to a few degrees before freezing for one day, before dipping again. For some unknown reason, the birds all went away when it got warmer, then came back yesterday.

Cardinal among icy branches.

Cardinal with wind-induced mohawk.

When they came back, the male and female Red-bellied Woodpeckers took turns at the the bird feeder. Only once, for less than a second, were they perched side by side, but I wasn’t fast enough to get that shot.

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker

Male Red-bellied Woodpecker 

Lunar New Year

Tags

cardinal, downy woodpecker, photography, postaday, woodpecker

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, commonly known as the Chinese New Year in the US. To wish you a Happy New Lunar Year I am posting two photos of my favorite birds.

Cardinal in snowstorm

Downy Woodpecker

Birds in the Snow

Tags

cardinal, photography, postaday, sparrow

It snowed last night. When I got up this morning, six inches were on the ground and the snow was still coming down, light and fluffy.

This is a shot of our backyard. If you look carefully, you’ll see four Cardinals on the magnolia tree, and one at the feeder. On the upper right hand corner you will also see the Red-bellied Woodpecker on an oak tree branch.

Magnolia tree, left, and bird feeder

A couple of Cardinals posed in a rare family portrait.

Cardinals family portrait

Many song sparrows weathered the snowfall, perched on the magnolia branches.

Sparrows

One even got into the Cardinal family photo.

Cardinals and Sparrow

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this brilliant Cardinal who posed for me.

Cardinal

Red Cardinal – 2

Tags

cardinal, photography, postaday

Yesterday we got some more snow, not as much as further up North, only about 3 inches. The Cardinals were mobbing the bird feeder and at one point I saw three beautiful red ones on the magnolia tree next to the feeder. With the long zoom lens, I only managed to frame two of them in one shot.

Cardinals on magnolia tree

Earlier in the day, I was aiming at another one. Just as I clicked, it dove toward the feeder.

Red Cardinal diving  

Red Cardinal

Tags

cardinal, photography, postaday

Under our deck’s bench, this male Cardinal was eating sunflower seeds spilled onto the snow when I filled up the bird feeder.

Red Cardinal in snow

 

Three Regular Visitors

Tags

cardinal, junco, photography, postaday

Even though it was still fairly cold, the sun was out today, allowing me to take advantage of the good light falling on three regular visitors to our bird feeder.

Junco

Male Cardinal

Female Cardinal

Favorite Birds: Cardinals

Tags

cardinal, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker

Cardinals, due to their colors and shapes, are arguably the favorite backyard birds of many of us. Yesterday was a cold and very windy day with a bit of snow, which may explain why we had so many of them come to our bird feeder. At one time I counted as many as seven, both males and females, and there could have been others unseen as they gleaned sunflower seeds that had fallen to the ground.

Male Cardinal

Female Cardinal

Male Cardinal approaching feeder

Normally, if a male Cardinal is at the feeder, the females keep a respectful distance, waiting until he leaves. He is only deterred by the Red-bellied Woodpecker which is slightly larger.

Male Cardinal and Red-bellied Woodpecker

On the other hand, female cardinals are not averse to fighting others of their kind for a seat.

Female Cardinals fighting

Yawn and Other Birds

Tags

cardinal, house finch, junco, magnolia, photography, postaday, sparrow

If you are getting bored of my BIF photos, this following picture, taken at Holgate two weeks ago, is for you.

Gull yawning

All right, so no more BIF today.

The other day, while trying to capture the Red-bellied Woodpecker in flight, I noticed our magnolia tree was getting loaded with birds.

Three Cardinals and one Sparrow

That was not the end of it. One more bird hopped on.

Three Cardinals, one Sparrow, one Junco

Then there was our House Finch next to a Junco.

House Finch and Junco

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Tags

cardinal, chickadee, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker, timouse

The Red-bellied Woodpecker is bigger than a Cardinal but smaller than a Blue Jay, yet it manages to bump most other birds off when it comes to our bird feeder.

It has an undulating flight, much like a roller coaster wave, which makes it hard to photograph. I’ve been trying to catch it in my viewfinder as it jumps off an oak branch and dives toward the bird feeder. However, it always comes below my line of sight before coming to a stop in the back of the feeder. After many tries, I was able to more or less capture it in flight in the following photos.

Female Cardinal fled as Red-bellied Woodpecker swept in

Two Titmice got out of the way as Red-bellied Woodpecker appeared

Downy Woodpecker and Chickadee about to escape as Red-bellied Woodpecker was coming close

Downy Woodpecker and Chickadee Scattered

Flying Seed

Tags

BIF, cardinal, downy woodpecker, nuthatch, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker

A Nuthatch and Cardinal were perched on our bird feeder.

Cardinal and Nuthatch

The Nuthatch made many trips, each time flying away with a sunflower seed.

Cardinal watching Nuthatch flying away with sunflower seed

Next a Downy Woodpecker did the same thing, under the benign eyes of His Eminence.

Male Downy Woodpecker ferrying sunflower seed to be hidden on some tree trunk

A Red-Bellied Woodpecker displaced the Cardinal, but that did not seem to bother the Air Woodpecker pilot.

Air Woodpecker

Snowstorm – Beginning

Tags

bird feeder, cardinal, junco, photography, postaday

A major storm is beginning to fall in our area. It’s expected to become a blizzard with whiteout conditions. From inside the house, I took the following photos of the beautiful birds descending on our bird feeder to stock up for the next day or two, just like people going in and emptying store shelves.

Here are two cardinals looking and waiting for the right moment to fly to the bird feeder, only about 10 ft away from them.

Female Cardinal

Male cardinal

A typical scene at the bird feeder.

Juncos and Cardinal

Hawk!

Tags

cardinal, chicadee, cooper's hawk, junco, photography, postaday, red-bellied woodpecker

Another cold day as our bird feeder continues to be the gathering place for our feathered friends: juncos, chicadees, sparrows, tufted titmice, woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays.

Cardinal and Chicadee

Red-bellied Woodpecker and Junco

Cardinal

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Suddenly all the birds flew up and scattered in every direction. A brown shape landed on our yellow magnolia tree. It was a Cooper’s Hawk. This was the first time I have been able to take photos of this bird of prey.

Cooper’s Hawk looking at bird feeder

Cooper’s Hawk, very intense

Cooper’s Hawk

The hawk stayed perched on a magnolia branch, gazing intently at the bird feeder, but all the medium and small birds had flown into hiding. After a couple of minutes, it gave up and flew back into the sky. It wasn’t until about half an hour later that our usual contingent of birds returned to our backyard.

First Birds of 2015

Tags

cardinal, photography, postaday

This morning, on the first day of 2015, many birds came to our back yard, apparently quite hungry as they emptied more than half of our large feeder in just a few hours. There were chicadees, titmice, blue jays, cardinals, juncos, and maybe others as well.

A pretty female cardinal perched on the yellow magnolia tree and looked at me curiously as I took the following shot.

Female cardinal

Later on, a blue jay landed then took off almost immediately. I barely had time to take this shot.

Blue jay taking off

2014 Photos: Odds and Ends – 1

Tags

cardinal, chicadee, clematis, cormorant, photography, postaday

Between now and the end of the year, I will post some of the photos I took in 2014 that did not make it, for one reason or another, into any of this year’s posts. I thought you may like them, even though there is no common theme to them.

Cormorants

Chicadee

Cardinal

Clematis

Young Cardinals and Goldfinch

Tags

cardinal, goldfinch, photography, postaday

This year brought a new generation of cardinals that we had not seen before. Like babies, they look fat, carefree, and not so shy.

Young cardinal

Young cardinal on deck. Cardinals like to pick up seeds from the ground,

Young cardinal at bird feeder

Meanwhile, a goldfinch wondered what all the fuss was about.

Goldfinch

 

Cardinal

Tags

cardinal, photography, postaday

This cardinal likes to come early in the morning for breakfast at our bird feeder, and a bright sun ray illuminated him like a stage light.

Cardinal at sunrise

In the following image, I am guessing he is saying: “Sunflower seeds again! The same, yesterday, today, and forever!”

Cardinal: “Sunflower seeds, again!”

Bird Courtship

Tags

bird courtship, cardinal, grackle, photography, postaday

I went to the county park today to look for birds to photograph. After about half an hour, I noticed a pair of grackles (and not purple martins as I wrote previously) in the midst of a courtship ritual. The male, shiny and bluish purple, was placing some food into the open beak of the brown female. This is what some male birds do to convince a potential mate that they are up to the task of taking care of her and their future brood.

Male grackle feeding female in courtship ritual

This may be the same couple a few minutes later.

Grackle couple

Last week, I also saw the same behavior with our backyard cardinals. A female cardinal kept fluttering her wings while perched over a bowl of sunflower seeds that I had put out on our deck. At first I thought she was sick or in distress, as she would not eat anything. Then a red male cardinal swooped in, picked a seed and placed it in her beak. He did it twice again. I ran to get my camera, but by the time I came back the pair had flown away.

Cardinals

Tags

cardinal, photography, postaday

There is at least one family of cardinals living in the woods near our house. They come to the bird feeder often, and since they are larger than other birds, I put out some seeds on the deck to make it easier for them, and also for me to photograph them.

Female cardinal

Female cardinal inspecting sunflower seeds

Male cardinal

Male cardinal

His and Hers

Tags

cardinal, photography, postaday

The pair of cardinals I was telling you about (see His Eminence) always comes to our bird feeder together. However, they do have their own ways, or manners.

The male is impetuous.

Male cardinal at bird feeder.

While the female is more delicate and graceful.

Female cardinal at bird feeder.

His Eminence

Tags

cardinal, photography, postaday

Among our backyard birds, a pair of cardinals seems to rule the small avian kingdom that congregates around our bird feeder. The pair flies and lands on any perch they like as other birds give them plenty of room. When they are feeding, no other bird dares come close. I’ve managed to photograph them from time to time, but the following photo is most representative of His Eminence’s regal bearing.