Time For Feeder Birds

With the cold winds of January blowing the outdoor photo opportunities are somewhat limited.  However there is no time like the present to capture some close up shots of the hungry birds flocking to our feeders.   

Tufted Titmouse

 Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal Female

Oops, not a bird but in the feeder nontheless!

Feeder Fotos

When I awoke Monday morning the snow was falling at a rapid pace.  I decided that spending the day at the feeders was a more appealing option than driving the slick roads across two mountains to get to the office.

 

The following photos are the best shots of the day.  All photos were with a Canon EOS 6D, Canon 600 f4L IS USM.

 

Dark-eyed Junco

White-throated Sparrow

 

 Northern Cardinal Female

 Northern Cardinal Male 

 

 White-breasted Nuthatch

 



Tufted Titmouse

Poke Weed: More Than a Perch

Dead poke weed is a favorite of mine for providing photogenic perches for winter bird photography however poke is also a good wildlife forage plant as well.

 

In casual conversation with my brother, he mentioned that a fellow photographer had noted that he had never seen anything eat poke.  I began to think of what I had observed and photographed in the past.  While I have observed a few different species of bird eating poke berries the below photos document both deer and a cardinal utilizing the plant.  While I have never seen a deer eating green poke leaves I have watched many times as they stripped a plant bare of its dead leaves during the winter months.

 

Here a doe eats poke berries that are beginning to shrivel after having been killed by an earlier frost.

 

A molting male cardinal sits on a poke branch, his bill stained by the plump ripe fruits.

 

 And a whitetail buck nibbles poke berries that have just ripened in the late summer.

 

 

So while poke does make great perches for bird photography, it is also a good natural food source as well.

 

Captures of Winter

After experiencing mostly mild winters for the past two decades, this winter has seen sustained cold and snow.  I captured the photos posted here before a brief warming spell melted much of the snow pack a week ago.  Now with snow and 0 deg. temps in the forecast for tomorrow there is no doubt that we must wait a while yet until winter loosens its grasp.


Canon EOS 6D, EF 24-105mm f/4L USM @28mm    f/5.6,1/800/ISO-160




Canon EOS 6D, EF 600mm f/4 IS USM   F/5.6, 1/100 ISO-320



Canon EOS 6D, EF 600mm f/4 IS USM   F/5.6, 1/400 ISO-800



Canon EOS 6D, EF 600mm f/4 IS USM   F/5.6, 1/2500 ISO-320



Canon EOS 6D, EF 600mm f/4 IS USM   F/5.6, 1/125 ISO-320



Canon EOS 6D, EF 600mm f/4 IS USM   F/5.6, 1/160 ISO-320

Perches for Feeder Birds

Song Sparrow

 

Feeders will draw birds for easier viewing all year long but when snow blankets the ground birds will descend on established feeders in droves.  Provide a variety of natural or natural appearing perches nearby that takes advantage of the natural light and you will have a perfect winter bird studio. 

White-throated Sparrow

 

The song sparrow and the white-throated sparrow in the above photographs both posed for me today on a multi-flora rose bush overgrown by an unidentified vine.

 

 

Black-capped Chickadee

 

A tree standing beside the feeder provides a multitude of branch perches such as the one used by the above chickadee. 

 

Female Northern Cardinal

 

This female cardinal perched on a broken poke stalk during a snow storm.  I am particularly fond of poke weed growing near my bird feeding areas as it not only provides a good variety of photogenic perches but feeds the birds as well. 

 

Rainy Day Cardinals

What started out in the morning as light snow turned to a steady cold rain by afternoon.  While I wanted to spend the time observing wildlife, with the whitetail rut slowing, I wasn't particularly interested in becoming soaked so I opted to sit in the truck at one of our naturalized bird feeders.  Since the shooting would be all hand-held I used the Canon 60D with 100-400mm lens.

 

 

Holding on with one foot the cardinal scratches its head.

For some reason unknown to me, the cardinal grasped a dead poke leaf stem in its bill and shook it violently.  After shaking the water from the leaf the bird flew away leaving the leaf much as it had found it.

Female Cardinal

While not as exciting as photographing the rutting whitetails, a raining afternoon with the cardinals was better than an afternoon at work!

Birds at the Deck Feeder

Deck Feeder

 

Photographing the winter birds at the feeders is a pleasurable way to pass time during the cold winter months.  This view of my deck shows my "left-over bird feeder", a feeder that I constructed from odds and ends left over from various other projects from years past including left-over shingles from a shed I built over twenty years ago.

  



To utilize the deck feeder as a outdoor bird studio required a place to hide and my old pop-up Outhouse blind fit perfectly on the opposite end of the deck.  At this distance I could obtain good frame filling shots while still being just a little over the minimum focus distance of the Canon 600 F4 lens.

 

 

 A weathered branch screwed to the deck railing wrapped with a vine still retaining a few leaves provided a good natural looking perch while adding a spot of color to the photographs. 

 

Within just a couple of days the birds were utilizing the new perch as if it had always been there.

Male Cardinal sits on the "natural" perch

The evergreen just beyond the feeder provides numerous scenic perches as well as cover from the occasional hawk attack.

 

Backyard bird feeding is a very popular past-time and with just a little thought and effort nearly any backyard feeder can be converted into an outstanding outdoor bird studio.

 

 

 

 

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

A fresh white snowfall brings with it new photographic opportunities.

While I have maintained a bird feeder mounted on my deck for a number of years I had never utilized it for bird photography.  Since I always strive to photograph wildlife against natural backgrounds I set a pop-up blind on the deck in a position which allows me to exploit the evergreen tree only a few feet farther away.  Not only does the evergreen tree create a variety of natural perches but it also provides the birds protection from the occasional hawk attack.

Having erected the blind a few day ahead of the Christmas Eve snow the birds were fully acclimated to it when conditions were right for shooting.  While the Blue Jays are very wary at our naturalized bird feeders; the ones visiting the deck feeder were the most accommodating species.

 This male Northern Cardinal seemed more concerned about my presence than did any of the jays.

While a female Cardinal shows off her food caked bill. 

And later poses on a snow covered bough with a cone directly overhead.

 

Winter is a good time for photographing birds attracted to the feeders and during or just after a snow storm is the very best time of all!

Birds of Winter

With autumn nearly past and winter just around the corner it's time to settle down at your favorite bird-feeder photo studio and shoot the "Birds of Winter".

 

White-throated Sparrow

 

Dark-eyed Junco

Female Northern Cardinal

 

 

Molting: Northern Cardinals

 

Northern Cardinals molt from late summer through mid autumn.  While most of the year the male cardinals red plumage is strikingly beautiful, during the molt their appearance can be offputting.  The first two images posted were captured at our natural birdfeeders this morning. 

 

The females molt during the same timeframe.  While not as colorful as their mates when fully feathered, they are just as ragtag during the molt.

However just because birds are not fully feathered they are still worthy of one's time and effort to photograph them.  This image captured on October 31st of a molting male eating poke berries is featured in a double page spread in the 2012 September/October edition of Pennsylvania Magazine.