Tuesday, January 31, 2012

With An Eagle Eye....

Cardinal in Sabino Canyon
 These pics were taken in the wild.  Not a zoo or refuge.  These are the beginnings of my journeys as an amateur birder. I went with a mission today.  Listen.  Observe. Locate. Absolute quiet is necessary.
So I followed my instructions and on my hike, I quietly walked listening for the Cardinal's sounds.  
And in the tree, I spotted both male and female.  Now one would think that these birds are easy to spot.  Quite the contrary.  It's not.  As I do this more, I become more in tune with my surroundings and I find balance from within.  And there is joy in this.
First I spotted the female(below) and then I turned around and found the male staring at me. We were both curious.   There was absolute perfection until a little kid popped out of nowhere and almost ran both Cardinals off!!  I put my finger to my mouth and the kid kept quiet until his mother screamed out his name.  Then they both flew away.  Personal rant.  I hate this view on men.  I know why we're seen as the enemy....especially strangers, but not all guys are bad people.  I educate...that's what I do, and the kid was greatful.  But I heard the mother say, "What were you doing over there with that man?"And he said, "We were looking at some Cardinals!" The world today is not a trusting one.  I can't say that I would be any different than that mother.  I'd have been protective of my own kid as well, but it still hurts me that men are seen in a darker light.  The same attitude applies in the education field...especially at the Elementary schools.  Why would a guy want to teach Elementary school?!  Well I don't thankfully(high school and college are my areas), but there are guys who make great role models for these younger kids because they love what they do.  I don't ask for the kids or dogs to follow me on my hikes...in fact, I wish they weren't there at all.  But that's not how life works.  Not all people are bad. Some actually try to do some good. End of rant:)
But most importantly, I succeeded in my objective.  Listen. Observe. Locate.(LOL:)  And I was really excited that on this photo shoot, I achieved my mission.  Find the Cardinals. But I would find so much more.  Tomorrow, I'll speak of the plant vs. bird tactic. While mostly all of my photos are taken in the wild, a few aren't.... like this Bald Eagle. I took this shot at the Bird Refuge in Green Bay. I hope to see a real one in the wild someday:)  But I can tell you, that my "Eagle Eye" is getting better:)  And what's a post without our National Symbol:) More tomorrow....

20 comments:

  1. Kardynały to przepiękne ptaki i śliczne zdjęcia im zrobiłaś. Zrobić zdjęcia ptakom nie jest łatwo. Trzeba szczęścia i cierpliwości. Pozdrawiam. *** Cardinals are beautiful birds and beautiful pictures of them did. Take pictures of the birds is not easy. You have luck and patience. Yours.

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  2. Your photos are beautiful! I just love cardinals.

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    1. Hi there! Welcome to the party:) I have a lot of fun coming this month from some really interesting work around the area and Arizona. My garden work and wildflowers will be featured next month in our desert.

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  3. These photos are pretty decent! If I recall Cardinals are rare out there? We usually have 6-8 here but rarely get a photo as they are very shy.

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    1. Cardinals are tricky here. We have quite a few, but they are very territorial and I know several locations that they live around....so I actually went to those areas to find them. Once and awhile, one comes to visit my garden. They are difficult to get on film because they hide in the reeds, under and in the bushes making it difficult to get a clear shot of them. I was just lucky that day. It was one day that I set out on a mission and accomplished what it was I was out to do:)

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  4. I thought you only got your new camera, but you are getting good shots already. What is your new DSLR?

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    1. Hi Andrea:)!, Sorry it takes me forever to get back to you, but this is the only time I get to write on the weekdays. So I got this new camera towards the end of October, but my hand is getting better with the photo shots and adjusting to the manual focus. It's only now that a lot of my posts are starting to reflect the new photos with the camera. The camera I use is a Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18MP DSLR Camera. I have 3 lenses...one for landscape and macro shots, another for the birds and wildlife, and the other is a telescope and you'll get to see those pictures next week. I was able to film some wildlife hundreds of meters away without being seen. Hope you have a good day. Kreesh:)

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  5. I second your statement that cardinals are often difficult to see, despite their brilliant plumage. Lovely photos!

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  6. your shots are good ones! i, too, hope to see a bald eagle in the wild some day!

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    1. I've been asking birders around the area where they've spotted nesting Eagles and they've told me along the water corridors towards the extreme east or west of the state. I may attempt this in March:) I have several areas I have to investigate yet and I'm thinking there are several pairs around those places. We shall see:)

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  7. Well done on getting those brilliant shots of the cardinals - what gorgeous birds.

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  8. The top of my list is a Cardinal, I know that it is common, but it is far away from me.

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  9. Of all the things I miss about the midwest it is being able to look out the window and see the Cardinals in the yard.

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  10. Ahhh, the joys of birding :) My family doesn't understand how I can spend hours sitting in the woods, waiting and watching. I never tire of it.

    Beautiful shots!

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  11. Those cardinal shots are very striking. I am hoping to get a shot of them in the snow...if we ever get any...

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  12. I’ve awarded you the Versatile Blogger Award: http://bit.ly/yhCUbI. Yay!!

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    1. Thank you! I'm not sure what it's all about but I'll out the link:) Sounds like a lot of fun.

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  13. Great shots of the cardinals! I always wonder why some cardinals stay here all winter when they could be in your nice, warm climate. Hmmm... The bald eagle is amazing, too.

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