my old friend and neighbor, loraine, moved away many years ago. i'm not sure what she fed them when she lived here but she always had the
best birds at her feeders. when she left, i expected her birds would just migrate on over to my house. i eventually got her chickadees, her finches, and her titmice. but what i
really wanted was her cardinals. and that was not to be. over the years, i would hear one in the woods, i could glimpse one in the treetops, i would see one streaking red in flight. but none ever came to feed. none ever came close enough to the house to photograph. until this week, that is! loraine, i think i
finally have all your birds!
 |
| even a female! |
17 comments:
What a fantastic colour that bird is.
I always found it incredible how birds can walk around on snow without their little feet freezing sold and shattering.
They prefer sunflower seeds over all other seeds if that helps!
tabor: for years i've bought sunflower seed exclusively, alternating between black-oil and striped - all in an effort to draw cardinals in. what's different this week is that i've thrown seed out the door and onto the snow, just because it's too icy to walk out on the stone path. yes, now i have cardinals :-) as well as every red and grey squirrel within a two mile radius of the house! :-(
i LOVE these! Want pictures of them too!
i bought songbird blend at home depot last year and the cardinals and bluejays come all the time - even families of cardinals. this year, i have the male and female but no babies yet. and we throw it on the snow too...
love the pic!
Cardinals love safflower seed, it keeps them coming back. An added bonus is the squirrels don't like it.
They are so shy..it is a privilege to have them come to your yard. I grew up in Ohio and always had them because my Dad fed them. I miss seeing them here in Utah.
We buy birdseed that says for cardinals on the label. It is a mixture for other birds, too. Lowes sells it. We are grateful a pair of cardinals have taken residence near out birdfeeder. xo Jenny
I think cardinals are very handsome birds. I wish we had them here. I would be astonished to see anything like them.
thank you all for your suggestions! i try to buy my seed from small-town, local businesses and i usually buy sunflower seed only. but maybe i need to branch out a bit. i may try some of your suggestions in an effort to draw in a greater variety of birds, cardinals included. it couldn't hurt, right?
We used to feed the cardinals and all of the other birds helped themselves too. When the squirrels joined in, we stopped. We had attracted a cardinal, or maybe more, that pecked at reflections of himself in the windows for years. Even after we stopped feeding them, they would peck on the windows. When the deer invaded, all of the birds seemed to relocate. I enjoyed your spin on Loraine's birds.
Birds on snow....breathtaking. Thank you!
I miss cardinals so much. In Wisconsin they used to come around for sunflower seeds and they were gorgeous against the snow. I can't believe they wouldn't enjoy living in Oregon, where it only snows once in awhile.
great post, chris. i like matt conlon's comment, too. i wonder that all the time; and also worry about the ducks i see out my window...arent their tummies freezing?
Aww. Love the cardinals! They remind me of my mom.
From a fellow bird photographer, congratulations! It's a beautiful shot.
Luna
Post a Comment