Cardinals conclave

 

It is bitterly cold here in Iowa at the moment but on the positive side the cold weather brings lots of Northern Cardinals to the yard and its feeders. I don’t think we have ever seen so many at the same time. I counted 20 birds on one side of the house today but there were probably some more on the other side and up in the trees. Cardinals are monogamous and solitary nesters during the summer but in the winter time they flock obviously together to larger “conclaves”.

The cardinals show up at the feeders before sunrise and they are the last ones that leave the feeders in the evening. Catching them with the camera at these times requires the use of a flash light. I try to keep my shutter speed slow so that there is a little light in the background left and it is not just all black. The bluish snow cover in the background of this photo helps to tell the story about what season and time this picture was made. It doesn’t say ‘summertime’, doesn’t it? Under these circumstances not every shot is a keeper but the contrast between the black face mask and the bill helps to maintain focus.

Cardinals everywhere

I think I stayed a little more on the conservative side when I told you a few days ago that we have a conclave of Northern Cardinals of about 15 birds here in the woods around our house. They are here now most of the day and I had the chance to count them again. Now I would say the flock has at least two dozen birds that stay together during the winter. I hope you don’t mind that I show you a few more images of these great looking birds. They will separate soon and it is hard to make a click that close during the summer (oh, I will try anyway).

Here is “The Punk”. The photo was made yesterday during the big gathering in the evening and the wind was still blowing after we had some more snow during the day.

This female had checked in at our “balcony studio” and used the Red Cedar branch to wait for a free spot at the bird feeder.

The last image is a day older than the other two but it was made also a few minutes after 6pm. The snow on the slope in front of our house made for a nice background and bounces the indirect flash light nicely onto the cardinal.

Nature clicks #191 - Northern Cardinal

The last birds that we see here every day are the Northern Cardinals. They seem to prefer the very early morning and early evenings for their visits. We have a conclave of about 15 cardinals who stay together during the winter. The daylight lasts already a bit longer than during the winter solstice a month ago. This allows to make a few clicks after work without relying totally on the flash light. However, I use the speed light as a fill flash to bring out the colors. This photo was made at 5:30PM today. As you can see there is still some daylight coming through the woods in the back and from the side, making for a nice separation of the bird from the background. The branch from a Red Cedar is part of our “balcony studio”. I think it worked for this photo… :-)

Nature clicks #140 - Northern Cardinal

 

We had a conclave of Northern Cardinals here all winter long but they usually show up very early in the morning and late after sunset when the light is not sufficient for bird photography. Today they changed their mind. A short but intensive snow shower hit our area today and covered everything with white for a couple hours. As many other birds the cardinals gave our feeders a try and I was actually able to make a few clicks in great light.

Nature clicks #85 - Female Northern Cardinal

 

Nature unfolded its best reflector today, with other words we had fresh snow on the ground. Not much, but enough to boost light and colors.

This female of a Northern Cardinal is a permanent resident in our woods around the house. I can recognize her easily because her colors are slightly lighter than other female cardinals that stop here. I waited almost motionless near this elm tree for quite some time in order to make this photo. Cardinals are extremely shy and don't come close very often.

Nature clicks #75 - Northern Cardinal

Nikon D300s, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

I have written here before about "having a plan" or "setting goals" for your photography. I still believe it is important to do that if someone wants to see improvements from a technical as well from the artistic point of view. My friend Dave Updegraff, who is like me an amateur photographer here in the Dubuque area, was looking some time ago for new goals and decided to focus on photographing old barns out in the countryside. I follow his blog and can tell that his approach to the subject became better and better any time he publishes new barn photos.

I try to do the same with my wildlife photography. I have this gallery about wildlife in Iowa at pbase.com. (Click HERE for a glimpse). One of my goals is to replace images from the early days of my digital photography with photos that are taken from a closer distance, and of course, that are technically and artistically better than my first shot of a particular animal.

I was very proud about my first photo of a Northern Cardinal, taken 2007 from quite a bit away, and finally cropped to death in post. Even if I don't want to look at the old picture anymore for many reasons, mainly image quality, but making the photo was as much fun as last week during the snow storm. For the first time I got a picture of a male cardinal that fills the frame. Little steps, and some take time, but the better image makes me feeling good again…