Two advantages of living "up North"

[Loupey]

1) the bare trees in the winter means less obstructions to shoot through, and

2) the sun is low enough to allow shooting the entire day


But THAT'S IT!

The three female cardinals here are from three different locations and took me about half the day to get by stalking. I wish I was able to get a knock-out shot for the time spent, but oh well - it was nice to just get out on a nice day.

[Pink Dragonfly]

The trees might be bare but I find there's still lots and lots of branches and the birds usually prefer to sit in the middle of them What a beautiful bird!

What's the wildlife like in your backyard this time of year, Loupey?

Mette

[paulnj]

Take the good with the bad I always say!

[Loupey]

Mette - thanks for looking. In my backyard, this time of year typically brings the following:

1) ultra common feeder birds (sparrows, small woodpeckers, blue jays mostly)
2) squirrels (OK, they're there all year long )
3) hawks which fly through the yard at least once a day looking for #1 and #2 above

Over the holiday weekend, we had a red-tailed hawk nab a black vole from behind my wood pile. It then perched with it about 50' behind my deck. I grabbed the closest camera I could find (my 5D and 300mm) and I raced after it (in slippers and no jacket). But before I could get a good shot, it swallowed the rodent whole and took off.

But I have now seen a red fox in the neighborhood twice recently. A few years ago, we had looked out and seen the occasional deer standing smack dab in the middle of yard which is completely odd looking considering we are surrounded by city life.


Paul - wise words, my friend!

[OldClicker]

"...seen the occasional deer standing smack dab in the middle of yard ..."

Can't you get them to stand more at the ROT intersections? :-) TF

[Pink Dragonfly]

What a pity about the hawk! I assume you weren't in your pyjamas this time

I have never seen a blue jay, in fact this post was the first time I heard of it! I looked it up on the net and it looks really pretty! Though I'm sure you can produce better photos than those I saw on the net Please post! The only woodpecker, I've seen around here is the great spotted woodpecker, so I would definitely like to see yours...and you know how much I like squirrels.... :blush2: I'm sure your squirrels must be in winter coat by now?

Anyway, what's extremely common to you might well be exotic to me

Mette

[Loupey]

Can't you get them to stand more at the ROT intersections? :-) TF

LOL! They must know that, to not be photographed by me, they must always stand dead-center in my field of view

[Loupey]

Mette - I'll see what I have. I tend to ignore them and when I do shoot them, I usually forget about them (the shots).

Funny because some days I can hike all day long and encounter less birds than I have in my very own back yard. And I've been footing an average of about 15 miles of trails a week for the last several weeks (before the snows come). It's not much but I do work too

[Loupey]

What a pity about the hawk! I assume you weren't in your pyjamas this time

No, not this time

I think I managed to salvage one shot from that experience. Shooting and walking at the same time isn't the best technique to use.

This is just before he started to gulp it down at which point I thought, "oh no!" and I rushed the bird to try to get a better shot before the meal disappeared completely. Too late. He swallowed, wiped his beak a few times on the branch and took off.

[paulnj]

great image!

[Pink Dragonfly]

Yeah, nice to know neither of you got away emptyhanded/mouthed

Looking forward to more from "Loupey's BackYard in Winter"

Mette

[Martin Brazil]

Back to your original shots Loupey, I'd say that was half a day well spent. The light in the last one is very nice.

[Loupey]

Looking forward to more from "Loupey's BackYard in Winter"

Mette

I think I'll start a new thread to which everyone can contribute.

I'll post it shortly once I have something to post

[Loupey]

Back to your original shots Loupey, I'd say that was half a day well spent. The light in the last one is very nice.

Thanks, Martin.

That last one was an "accident". I was waiting and waiting and waiting for that female to fly to the opposite side of the trail. So I did a "heck, I'll just look through the viewfinder to see how it looks" check and aside from the few stray branches in the way it didn't look too bad.

Nice not worrying about using up film anymore