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My dear friend Red.
I was walking outside to photograph cacti on the side of our driveway when Red called. I was focusing on the cacti when I realized that Red was singing to me! I looked up at him in the tree and said, “Hey Red!”
He took off in flight for the backyard. I ran into the house, grabbed the bag of bird seed and found him waiting for me on the fence by our Bird Buddy feeder. I filled it with birdseed and stepped away, but not too far. Red wasn’t scared. He cocked his head this way and that, watching me. I sat on a bench close by, ready to take more photos.
Darn! I thought looking down at my camera strapped around my neck. I wish I had my telephoto lens.
I stood up slowly, walked back into the house to switch my lens to telephoto. When I returned, Red was still there. I was closer to Red than I had ever been before to take photos.
Here are some of the better pics of Red:
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3.
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5. A series of three photos
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I can’t tell you what an ethereal feeling it was to be so close to Red for yesterday’s photo session. I was shooting cacti and plants at different ISOs for this week’s photography assignment. Then Red showed up and I used him for my subject.
Do you have a bird or wildlife friend who you see often?
Which are your favorite photos of Red and why?
Wow! Great pictures Elizabeth. Love the when the two birds are just preparing to fly.
Thank you! I was so excited to get that shot. 💕
It’s like an award winning shot.
Thank you! I think it will make it into my homework assignment this week.
Very good idea.
Red has you trained very well EA, especially when the Bird Buddy is empty and he wants food! Love the one of him among the tree branches looking directly at you as if to say “Hurry up Elizabeth!”
You are correct. He is training me, yet until you said it, I thought I was training him! He has such a gorgeous voice and does not quit until I fill the feeder.
I think that’s just the best thing- a lovely symbiotic relationship with the wildlife 🙂
I was in awe yesterday with Red so close and not frightened of me.
Male cardinals are such beautiful creatures. Love the shot of his torpedo body taking off in flight.
❤️
Thanks! They do look like torpedos when they fly — and they are fast!
My favorite photo is the last one. With his head cocked to the side, Mr. Cardinal looks like a concerned friend worried about your obsession with taking photos of him.
That too funny! You have me laughing this morning.
I love your cardinal! That one picture looks like a mourning dove? (#6)
Yes it is. We have dozens of mourning doves and only one cardinal!
I love that you have so many doves!! They are one of my favorite birds!
That’s great that you like them. I love to hear their cooing, but they totally dominate the bird buddy.
Oh wow! Mine hardly ever go on the camera feeder! That’s so interesting that yours do!
My dad has a camera feeder too and he said the mourning doves won’t let other birds near it.
OMG!
👍🏼
Beautiful pics Elizabeth. They’re so vibrant and expressive. The series of pics are like a little story. I could see you easily turning these shots into a kids book. Big Red to the rescue. Or Big Red getting into trouble with his friends. (I find #6 hilarious.) Great shots.
Thank you Brian! What a great idea about a children’s book. Red was sitting outside my bedroom calling me this morning. As Deb said, he has me trained to fill the bird feeder.
Too funny. That’s one smart bird!
Such fun to have bird friends! Red is so lovely. Great shots!
Thank you! He’s a beautiful bird and I feel so lucky to have him move into our yard.
Wow – those are spectacular shots. The one you got of both Red and the other bird lifting off in the same moment? Amazing! Love that Red knows you are good people!
Thank you, Wynne. I was so excited to see that shot, because I wasn’t sure that I got it. Or I thought it would be blurry. I think Red loves being fed three meals a day!
I love cardinals.
I’m in love with Red. He’s the only cardinal we have among dozens of mourning doves and quail.
So many fabulous photos!! Hard to pick a favorite, but that last one is darling.
Thank you! I was on another planet sitting so close taking so many photos yesterday.
First things first. I will make a bet if I had those cacti in my year I would have accidentally kicked them multiple times by now (in flip-flops). I particularly like 5. You caught both birds in flight. Good job.
I think that will be one of my two Base ISO photos I need to turn in this week for photography class. I need two at Base, two at highest ISO and two of a “normal” ISO that I like to use. I’m drawn to 200 and 400. With film, what ISO film do you like?
Red makes a wonderful model! How nice that you are a trusted “friend” to him.
The friendship is developing, but he’s really trusting me the past week. He sings for me in the morning to feed him. When I come home from a walk or driving he is singing in a tree by our driveway, to get my attention.
The last photo is delightful with that cock of the head. I like the mid flight picture with the mourning dove. The other one is with him in the tree. With all the branches a difficult shot to get in focus.
Thank you! I was so excited to sit outside or stand behind a branch of a tree to get the shots.
Beautiful bird and photos Elizabeth. I like it when birds cooperate
Thanks! Red seems to be less afraid of me through each day. He used to see me and zoom away.
What a beautiful cardinal! You had plenty of visitors.
Thanks! He has a beautiful voice and calls to me to fill the feeder. He’s now meeting me in the driveway when I come home.
That’s awesome!
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Oh my God, he’s beautiful! You are so lucky to have this flighty friend. Wow. Your photos are incredible. I’m so smitten with Red. I like the one where he’s looking down on you from the branches! What a charmer. You are so talented Elizabeth. Hugs, C
Thanks so much for the kind words. I am smitten with Red, too. He sings for me outside my bedroom in the morning. He meets me in the driveway when I come home from the grocery store! My photography teacher has talent to explain best settings for each type of photo. What a difference it’s made for me.
Amazing photos and Red is handsome! So glad you got to get closer to him than you had in the past.
Thank you! My photography class is helping me so much. Plus my gorgeous model Red. He’s helping me a bit after losing my Olive cat.
WOW. Look at your gorgeous photos; I’d say your class is paying off already. He is the MOST handsome boy!
At our new house, near the beach, we don’t have as many birds as we did out in the country, (I miss my woodpeckers!) but I do have a few cardinals, blue jays, doves and lot’s of Ibis. (The ibis don’t visit the feeders, only dig for worms in the grass)
Thank you! I would love to be near the beach, and I’d take less birds for that. We vacation at the beach every summer since we’ve been married. We’d rent a house in Laguna Beach for the summer and divide the months with another couple to escape our desert heat.
That’s lovely—-what a sweet way to enjoy your summers.
It was perfect with kids. I couldn’t imagine being cooped up inside the house with kids because it was too hot to be outside. Now my husband and I rent a house for a month by the beach.
I love the last 2 photos the best. Love how the othet bird’s wing is outstretched and I like how Red is turning his head in the last shot.
Thanks! I took so many more photos of Red this weekend. I think he likes posing for me.
He likes to be a star! 😊 He makes a beautiful one!
He definitely is a star!