The Norther Cardinals were a rare sight two months ago, but that has changed with the deep snow cover we have received in January and February. It is not uncommon to see six to ten male and female Northern Cardinals in the yard at a given time now. 

While they have been common lately, any attempt to get close to them outdoors has resulted in failure; with the exception of this day. I had put out some fresh feed in the morning and the birds were flocking to the feeders, including this male Northern Cardinal. I was positioned outside about ten feet from the tree stump I have shown previously when this male Northern Cardinal started to come in. At first he was 30 feet, then twenty feet, then he was about fifteen feet. At that point I started taking these photos. Shortly after he left his perch and made a dash for the tree stump where I caught him behind a White-Throated Sparrow, but he quickly departed.

These images were shot handheld using a Canon 40D and Canon EF 100-400MM F/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens. The RAW images were imported into Adobe Lightroom for minor cropping, exposure adjustment, and I Burned the tree branch using the adjustment brush to bring out a bit more contrast before exporting to JPEGs.

Thanks for stopping by today!

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