Saturday, December 19, 2009

Paradise in ice.


Last night we got 2 1/2 inches of snow then it sleeted on top of that. This morning the snow became a half slush and half ice. Right now is is snowing very tiny flakes. I went out and took some photos.

I think this photo should be called Preacher! Just seems right to me. I waited a long time for that male Northern Cardinal to get brave enough to land on the feeder with me standing beside the porch 25 foot away. All of these bird photos were taken with my Canon 20D, 400mm f5.6 toy lens mounted on a mono pod.

Here the Cardinal landed on a bean pole close enough for a full frame photo!

Red-bellied Woodpecker bracing with its stiff tail feathers.






Tufted Titmouse


White-throated Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow


Dark-eyed Junco


American Goldfinch




Our gravel road with 1 inch or so of slush on it. If it freezes solid we are stuck here. Notice it is all uphill about a 1/4 mile to get out.

Hellebore in the snow.




Camellia Sasanqua 'Tsumaorigasa' on ice!


21 comments:

Sheila said...

Stay warm!

Tom - 7th Street Cottage said...

Those are incredible photos. I can't believe you all got snow. We got rain rain and more rain. The sun was out for a brief period this morning. It's 39 degrees here. *sigh*

I'm going to have to find one of those cameras. My little Sony point and shoot just doesn't do closeups at all.

Nell Jean said...

Stunning photos. I didn't get pics of the Robins taking turns at the bird bath this morning. I am so glad to have moved away from ice and snow.

I miss a lot of great photo ops. A tiny anole was on one of my amaryllis blooms. By the time I got the door unlocked, the card, the camera, the dog out of my way and back to where the amaryllis are....

Randy Emmitt said...

Sheila,
Thanks for stopping by the blog, much appreciate your commenting here!

Tom,
This lens I used is called a toy lens by the pros. What they mean is it didn't cost $8000-12,000 like the heavy weight f 2.8 lens. It was over $1000 though. All these photos are cropped except the solo cardinal photo which landed 10 foot from me.
Also 30 mins from here in Chapel Hill they did not even get snow.

Neil Jean,
I'd have enjoyed seeing an anole in a photo like that. I have a photo of one busting out of its skin, very cool.

Dave@TheHomeGarden said...

Nice pictures Randy! The snow really can give you some nice settings for shooting the birds. The lens did a nice job too. I would love to get a better zoom lens but that will have to wait until I can afford it.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Wonderful pictures! My favorite bird is the tufted titmouse. He just looks so sweet.

Your snowy pictures make me shiver. Hope you are prepared for being iced in by the roads.

Keep warm and have a lovely Christmas.

Great header.

FlowerLady

Amy said...

Those are great photos! :)

Carol said...

Gosh Randy ... stellar portraits!! I want that lens... now are you shooting though glass? Crystal clear... beautiful!!! What a red! What a civilized community of birds... each one perfectly portrayed. Wonderful to see your birds ... how they brighten up the near winter day. I love the little white-throated sparrow... that bit of yellow. Great post!!

Carol said...

BTW ... I may envy you your lens... but not your road! Whoa! It is bad enough here with glazed ice everywhere. Have a great weekend. Carol

Randy Emmitt said...

Dave,
I've had this lens for years it is a fixed 400mm f5.6 very light but never handy.

Flower Lady,
The roads here are clear yet our driveway should be bad until mid day tomorrow. Chilly nights and shade should make it stick around for a while.

Amy,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

Carol,
I was out shooting birds twice today. The first time I was in house slippers leaning against the lattice under the porch, the overhang kept it dry there. The next time I wore boots as it was slightly snowing as shown in the photos. The road here is great when the Eastern Redbuds are in bloom.

sweetbay said...

The cardinal looks like he's announcing to the other birds that all of the food is his. lol The Titmouse has a measure above the uber-cuteness of a typical Titmouse. Great pictures!

We had some snow fall yesterday but no accumulation.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

Gorgeous pictures. I especially love seeing the birds. I lived in St. Louis when I was younger and remember how pretty the Cardinals were. He does look like a preacher.

Anonymous said...

Hi Randy~~ As annoying and inconvenient as it can be, there is serene beauty with the snow, isn't there? Your avian visitors are beautiful!!!

Victoria Williams said...

Lovely, lovely pics of the birds! Wish we had cardinals here. While in Kauai we saw some red crested cardinals. I'll post pics of them soon.

Shady Gardener said...

Randy, These are wonderful photos!! Guess you're inspiring me to go outdoors??! Your first two photos seem to indicate the wind the birds were facing - bravely. :-) And I'd say you've just had plenty of Winter Inspiration!!

Chandramouli S said...

Wow, Randy! Those photos look amazing. Of course, you're a great photographer, needless to say. Great that so many birds visit your garden even when it snows! The parrots here seem to hide somewhere most of the times during monsoons and about other birds they almost seem invisible during these seasons.

Lanny said...

What beautiful photos, thank you for sharing. Do you want to be stuck home? Sometimes that is why I look forward to the snow and ice, to be snowed in, it is such an adventure and no one can really fault you.

Rothschild Orchid said...

Wow! I love your photo's.

Oh my that Cardinal is so beautiful, I've never seen one before, fantastic!

RO :o)

Anonymous said...

Hi Randy, the bird photos are the best I have ever seen! The titmouse is my favorite, they are so difficult to capture, never being still for a moment. You have done the impossible! :-)
Frances

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Look at those happy looking birds!

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

I do like that first picture that you are calling 'The Preacher'...that one Junco leaning back is funny.
Hope your Camellia made out ok with all that ice...or does that mess up the bloom? I would think it does.
Merry Christmas to you and Meg.