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
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!
Stay warm!
ReplyDeleteThose 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*
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to find one of those cameras. My little Sony point and shoot just doesn't do closeups at all.
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.
ReplyDeleteI 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....
Sheila,
ReplyDeleteThanks 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.
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.
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures! My favorite bird is the tufted titmouse. He just looks so sweet.
ReplyDeleteYour 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
Those are great photos! :)
ReplyDeleteGosh 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!!
ReplyDeleteBTW ... 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
ReplyDeleteDave,
ReplyDeleteI'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.
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!
ReplyDeleteWe had some snow fall yesterday but no accumulation.
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.
ReplyDeleteHi Randy~~ As annoying and inconvenient as it can be, there is serene beauty with the snow, isn't there? Your avian visitors are beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteLovely, 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.
ReplyDeleteRandy, 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!!
ReplyDeleteWow, 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.
ReplyDeleteWhat 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.
ReplyDeleteWow! I love your photo's.
ReplyDeleteOh my that Cardinal is so beautiful, I've never seen one before, fantastic!
RO :o)
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! :-)
ReplyDeleteFrances
Look at those happy looking birds!
ReplyDeleteI do like that first picture that you are calling 'The Preacher'...that one Junco leaning back is funny.
ReplyDeleteHope 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.