When gardeners turn to birdwatching…
A favorite activity during the cold Iowa Winter months is chasing birds around with my camera! Well, not literally ‘chasing’ birds but sneaking up on them from behind at my living room and porch windows. With digital photography, one can shoot and shoot and shoot and sometimes get very up-close and personal or seen from far-away!
The vibrant red of the male Northern Cardinal is such a beautiful contrast with the Winter snow. But the dull red-brown shade of the female Cardinal emulates a beauty of her own. These Cardinals live in our woods all year round and are known as quite robust, seed-eating birds who fly in and out frequently to the feeders . ‘Robust,’ yes, that is certainly a fitting adjective to describe these birds!
‘Robust’ as they may be, Cardinals do ‘share’ with others that flock at the feeders like Sparrows, Chickadees, Juncos and Woodpeckers.
And sometimes they are patient enough to even wait for their turn on top of the bird arbor or the nearby Shepherd’s hook.
During courtship, the Northern male Cardinal feeds seed beak-to-beak with the female. Unable to catch that on camera yet but I certainly have noticed a lot of ‘flirting’ going on between pairs! Check this, ‘Come hither’ look from this female.
Spring is here!
16 Comments
Words can not begin to say how much I enjoy all of Jeanne’s photos of her pretty birds. She has the knack of feeding and capturing on photos these beautiful birds. WOW —<3 your work and a big thank you for sharing.
Love your photos!
How beautiful these pictures are! The grandkids and I have been enjoying watching the red birds and other here today but haven’t gotten any of that beautiful snow as hoped. Thank you for sharing these pictures!
Your pictures are the bomb. They are so much better than any of the pictures I find in bird books. You have always captured them in such beautiful poses. I love the birds, and all of your flowers and all the pictures you share Jeanne. You are such a positive asset to Flea market Gardening. I also love the way you always have something nice to say about most of the pictures posted on FMG. Keep up the beautiful work. I always look forward to seeing your pictures.
Such pretty birds, and you captured some wonderful photos of them. Especially that one of the two in the snowy tree. I had to look twice to see the female.
Jeanne,you have amazing photos of the cardinals !! I always look forward to seeing your posts of them,it’s like being there. We have three pair and I love to watch them. My husband has got some good photos,mine not so good.
Absolutely beautiful photo’s Jeanne, what a joy they must bring to you and put a smile on your face every day! Thank you for sharing with us a little corner of your feathered world. We don’t have Cardinals here in Utah, so this would be a real treat for me to ever see them in person someday. In the meantime I’ll enjoy them through you.
These birds look like they could jump right off the screen and fly!
Beautiful!!!! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for commenting …appreciated! We certainly do enjoy these beautiful birds all Winter long … helps make Winter a littlebit shorter! Cardinals love Black Oil Sunflower Seeds & my hubby puts out suet & some other bird mix, too in our bird arbor plus we keep a heated small bird waterer open throughout the brrrrr…cold season!
Photos are absolutely beautiful. I enjoy your stories so much. I love FMG so much. Thanks for your time spent on the pictures and comments to others posted.
Jeanne, Your photos are superb. I always enjoy seeing what you have happening ‘in your neck of the woods.’ Everything is absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing. Marylee
Beautiful. We left Madison, WI last September for Eugene, OR. Next to family, the Cardinals are what I miss most. Nothing matches their brilliant color and song! We now have a host of northwestern birds in our yard out here, but I still miss my Cardinals. Some winters we would count 30+ at one time! Of course we had about 15 feeders, too! Thank you for these photos!
They certainly are beautiful birds! Thanks … happy that you enjoyed the photos!
Feeding the birds is a past time for some people. While you take a stroll with the kids or alone at the park, you may find it interesting to feed the birds. For some people feeding birds is a passion. Bird watchers are not only best at recognizing and naming birds, but also at the knowledge of bird food. Peanuts are most commonly used as bird food as it comes handy in the home kitchens.*
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Another important thing to note is how much of the seed you are giving is actually just filler. Many less expensive feeds use a lot of filler, which the birds don’t generally eat and are basically a waste of money and can make a mess in your yard. Filler seeds include milo, sorghum, red millet and golden millet. Birds will push through these fillers to get the food they want, so it is more financially sound to choose one that is higher quality.*
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