NATURE CLICKS #315 - NORTHERN CARDINAL

Male Northern Cardinal

The Northern Cardinals flock together in the winter and during the early morning or after sunset we can count about twenty visiting our bird feeders. It was bitter cold again today and so we see them even a lot more during the day. Cardinals are very shy and it is not easy to get close. Other birds will tolerate my short presence out in the open and still visit the feeders but the cardinals just sat in the trees and waited until I went back in the house to warm up my fingers.

I used “quick crop”, the DX mode in the Nikon D750, because I wasn’t able to get closer. The low sun delivered a nice light from the side and being fast was key for making the click.

STRUPPI

This is “Struppi”, which translates into English probably as “Scrubby”. I named this little fawn because of its fur, which looks thicker and fuzzier than at any other White-tailed Deer that visit us now every day. A group of 7 - 9 does and fawns made it a habit to show up in our yard since we have the snow on the ground and it became so bitterly cold. “Struppi" has a mind of its own. Sometimes it visits alone, away from the group, but I’m sure the mother is never far away. While most of the deer come around 4 in the afternoon, “Struppi" wants its lunch and checks out the area around the bird feeders already at noon. It isn't as skittish as some of the other deer and as you can see it even sticks out the tongue while I make the picture. Yesterday it took a nap for about an hour, leaning against a fence post and with its back towards the sun. Life is good here, even with temperatures way below freezing… ;-)

Finding light in the cold

The bitter cold last weekend, that by the way still persists at the moment, didn’t stop us to have a little hike down on the Heritage Trail along the Little Maquoketa River. It was about the time when the sun disappeared behind the ridge and the shadows started filling the valley. When I realized the reflections that developed on the ice in the river bed I saw my chance for a photo. I didn’t have enough reach with the 24-120 mm lens to isolate the scene as you see it here. A wire fence between the trail and the river prevented me to zoom in with my feet, means getting closer to the subject. The upper part of the slope was still in direct sunlight and so I made the click and cropped the picture in Lightroom. I hate to loose pixels, but if it makes the difference, having the shot or not, I can make a compromise. Can I? ;-)