A mid-January cardinal or two in Syracuse, N.Y.
January 18, 2015 7:00 am
I’ve spent the two summers since I’ve started this blog ready to grab my iPhone or iPad for its camera whenever the Cardinal red flashed by the backyard of the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood Little Bitty shared by my dear wife Karen and I.
I’ve never been quick enough to get a good shot.
The delightful creatures have been just too darn fast.
So imagine my surprise when I spotted the red through the French door window on a January winter morning, grabbed my iPhone 6 from the top of my dresser, walked out to the top step and opened the door to the screened porch and to the right located our birds. Yes, I saw two.
But the sound apparently spooked them, and off they flew.
Patience, Mark. Yes, to the left of Good Neighbor Tim’s garage/workshop.
A mid-January cardinal or two in Syracuse, N.Y.
If you sit there, I will push the white button.
The bird flew further right, past Tim’s garage/workshop, so I adjusted and tried to zoom in closer.
Fast but now I have better technology.
The red moved again, and I discovered my camera was on the annoying square setting.
Wait, that’s not just my two usual reds.
I fixed that to the horizontal in time to see my birds — yes, I’ve figuratively adopted them already — land in the yard directly behind mine. To be joined by a handful of others. Winter cardinal bonanaza.
Join your friends, cardinals.
I maneuvered the camera position for the best shot possible, considering angle and the fence between us.
A little vine on a fence means a lot to these cardinals. I didn’t see any feeder nearby.
Looking at all the photos I took, the most cardinals I’ve counted in any one shot is five. We’ve never seen more than two together in summer.
What winter birds have you spotted where you live? Do you see the birds hanging out in big flocks like this, and if so, what sort of seen might you put out to attract them? Have you tried to photograph your neighborhood birds with any luck?
Posted by markbialczak
Categories: iPhone Photography, Life
Tags: Bird watching, Birds, Cardinals, Eastwood, Northeast U.S. Birds, Ornithology, Syracuse, Winter birds
Mobile Site | Full Site
Get a free blog at WordPress.com Theme: WordPress Mobile Edition by Alex King.
We had a bluebird earlier in the winter. They’re rare around here anyway, much less in the cold weather. I love cardinals – they always brighten up the scenery.
LikeLike
By cat9984 on March 2, 2015 at 4:51 pm
Bluebirds are really beautiful as well, Cat. Nice eye catch in Michigan!
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on March 2, 2015 at 8:06 pm
WOW! I mean, if I could adjust the font size to like 46, I’d be saying, “W.O.W.!.!.!” I don’t think I’ve ever seen more than two cardinals, either. Those are gorgeous! I hope they stay a while, and you can get more photos. One would think that with all my professional photography gear, I could get a decent photo of some birds, but sadly, I never have my 40+ pounds of gear handy when I see any birds worth photographing. *sigh* But I’m very happy for your photo success and a little jealous that you get so many of these beautiful creatures so close to your home. 🙂
LikeLike
By rachelcarrera on January 20, 2015 at 9:27 pm
Like several of your friends mentioned, Mark, I do miss cardinals. Surely, we have Larry Fitzgerald here the desert, but rare is it for me to see a splash of red perched on a tree. Cardinals do visit the desert but I never see them in my yard. Sad. Great shots, especially the group!
LikeLike
By Angie Mc on January 20, 2015 at 1:54 pm
Ha! Good one, Angie McFly, regarding Larry Fitzgerald.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 20, 2015 at 3:01 pm
I’m in the zone, Mark! Couldn’t resist 🙂
LikeLike
By Angie Mc on January 20, 2015 at 8:18 pm
so pretty 🙂 Am afraid I’ve never gotten into watching birds. I sound like the city girl I am when I say that while I appreciate nature, I don’t spend too much time enjoying. Am never willing to sit still and smell roses. Ha, if I stop moving, I will fall asleep.
LikeLike
By Liz on January 19, 2015 at 11:36 pm
You don’t have to sit still to enjoy or appreciate nature, Liz. Just slow down, open your eyes and breathe in. Taking a photo, however …
Come on, smell a rose every now and again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 20, 2015 at 7:59 am
I was out and about today trying to get a glimpse of a cardinal, Chum. No luck. 😦 We usually see them this time of year. A few finches were seen, but the cardinal is my goal. We shall see. Maybe next time. Your photos are wonderful!
LikeLike
By Audrey Dawn - Oldest Daughter Redheaded Sister on January 19, 2015 at 7:54 pm
I hope you get your red, Red. You deserve it. 🙂
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 19, 2015 at 8:49 pm
Dang it!! It did’nt work out!!! Grrrr
LikeLike
By Priceless Joy on January 19, 2015 at 3:58 am
😦 PJ
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 19, 2015 at 8:49 am
You have to be ^o) to get a good pic. I can see how 8o| it would be to miss good shots. And how sad 😥 it would be to miss, and (u). But to get 5 of them together is pretty amazing (jk) and that would make you feel really happy (rotfl). And, I have spent a LOT of time on this comment. If it doesn’t come out like I want it to, I will be :-\ and very :’|. I would just (L) ❤ to see these little guys up close. :} (I'm crossing my fingers this comment will turn out right, if not please delete it. :@
LikeLike
By Priceless Joy on January 19, 2015 at 3:57 am
🙂 PJ.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 19, 2015 at 8:49 am
I love that we two are as ever in synch my long lost bro. Two bird watchers…Love u
LikeLike
By Sandra on January 18, 2015 at 11:03 pm
In tune, singng our bird songs, sis Sandra. ❤
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 11:29 pm
great photo mark. excellent shot of pretty birds
LikeLike
By Louise on January 18, 2015 at 10:42 pm
Thanks, Louse. 🙂
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 11:27 pm
your welcome. Mark….. YAWN need a nap after watching that excitement…
LikeLike
By Louise on January 18, 2015 at 11:31 pm
LOUISE please not louse…..although some exes would probably call me that.
LikeLike
By Louise on January 18, 2015 at 11:33 pm
Ha
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 11:56 pm
Ha, now that’s an exciiting typo for you. Sorry about that one, Louise. Yikes. 😮
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 11:56 pm
your forgiven Mark. Have to say i was surprised when you wrote in Austins blog about you finding “dear wife Karen” only 12 years ago. because in your pictures you look as though you have been together forever. Good hings do come to those who wait…..
LikeLike
By Louise on January 19, 2015 at 12:30 am
They do, Louise. That’s a good lesson for lots of us. So smiles to you, my friend. 🙂
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 19, 2015 at 8:42 am
During my squirrel photo shoots, I’ve got a few pics of the redbirds as well (And no, I don’t mean the hometown baseball team). It seems like the majority of birds I see around here who aren’t starling black are bright red cardinals…
LikeLike
By evilsquirrel13 on January 18, 2015 at 10:29 pm
St. Louis toodle-doo style birds in your area, ESN.
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 11:25 pm
What a cardinal bonanza!! Lucky you, Mr. B. It’s a treat to see them in the winter against the snow capped trees. Late November there was a family of bobcats in my back yard frolicking about. I got some pics but they didn’t come out very clear. Glad you are having fun with your camera. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
By brickhousechick on January 18, 2015 at 9:44 pm
You have bocats in you part of Massachusetts? I thougt you were in a neighborhood of Amherst, Mrs. B?! Big bobcats? Scary bobcats? You’re throwing me for a loop, here, my friend. You should post even a not very clear picture of that!
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 10:03 pm
Mr. B! You wouldn’t by any chance be…doubting my bobcat story- would you? Would I lie? Here’s a link on bobcats in MA and some not so clear photos I took in my back yard.
Click to access living-with-bobcats.pdf
photo 1.JPG
photo 5.JPG
photo 4.JPG
LikeLike
By brickhousechick on January 18, 2015 at 10:29 pm
I was totally believing you and scared for you, Maria!
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 11:26 pm
I will email you the bad pics. 🙂
LikeLike
By brickhousechick on January 18, 2015 at 10:33 pm
🙂
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 11:26 pm
A fine gaggle of cardinals (or whatever they are called)! Birds are hard ones to photograph; they twitch about so much and flee. I often wind up deleting all my attempts. Never seen so many cardinals on one vine!
LikeLiked by 1 person
By kerbey on January 18, 2015 at 9:12 pm
I couldn’t believe my eyes, Kerbey. I only wish I could have gotten a closer shot. Alas, five little reds made me happy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 9:59 pm
Nothing like a cardinal or a goldfinch in winter–the brilliant colors. But the finches are even faster than the cardinals! We used to see pheasants in our backyard growing up–the male is so gorgeous against the snow also. Do you have any of those near you?
LikeLiked by 1 person
By candidkay on January 18, 2015 at 8:17 pm
I haven’t seen any pheasants in our yard, Kay. That would be really special!
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 8:34 pm
So cool! Great shots. Wow, it was your lucky day to get so many in one pic. I also find it annoying when my iPhone shifts around when I’m taking pictures. It’s so easy to put it on a different setting, and it seems to always be on the one I don’t want right when I need to take a picture!
LikeLiked by 1 person
By Amy Reese on January 18, 2015 at 5:14 pm
They do seem to jump around, Amy. The cardinals and the iPhone settings, both. 🙂 Thanks for the kind words.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 5:32 pm
You are so lucky… 5 in one picture is amazing! But you are really lucky as I have never seen a cardinal out here in the desert of Arizona. Way to have patience…! 🙂
LikeLike
By Nancy on January 18, 2015 at 5:03 pm
Thanks, Nancy. It was a happy morning moment. I hope you get some color out there in Arizona of your own variety. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 5:30 pm
You know what is cool, Mark? You are! This post went perfectly with the CBS moment of nature at the end of the Sunday morning show. They had cardinals, they were able to zoom in on the quieter and less visible female, golden cardinals with their little tufted heads. I liked your five or more red cardinals and wonder where their mates were? Hmmm… smiles!
LikeLiked by 1 person
By reocochran on January 18, 2015 at 2:13 pm
I enjoyed the quiet CBS cardinal snow-nature moment this morning, too, Robin, and thought of the coincidental coordinatiion of my effort and theirs. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 4:14 pm
Wow, Mark! Thanks for bringing beautiful colors in to my day.
LikeLike
By Ann Koplow on January 18, 2015 at 12:00 pm
You’re welcome in Cardinal red, Ann. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 2:00 pm
Like Diana, I miss the cardinals I would see in the states. I haven’t seen one here in all the years I have lived here. Bluejays once in a while, when I visited someone. But they have not visited my backyard. All I get is magpies, wrens and hawks. Especially in winter. 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
By JackieP on January 18, 2015 at 11:53 am
I miss the Cardinals Mark! I always saw them when I lived back east. They do not live here in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. 😦
Diana xo
LikeLiked by 1 person
By dianasschwenk on January 18, 2015 at 11:24 am
at last! your vigilance and patience pays off. i’ve seen an occasional winter cardinal here and it always gives me hope that spring will return one day, even in the hardest days of the grey winter. i consider a sighting to be good luck!
LikeLiked by 2 people
By ksbeth on January 18, 2015 at 11:20 am
Oh, I love it when the cardinals show up here (usually in mid-December)! We’ll sometimes have 15 – 20 of them gathered in our driveway…our driveway is apparently full of deliciousness. (???) I’m so happy for you that you were able to catch your little guys in pictures! 😀
I saw up there that they’re the Ohio state bird…they’re also the North Carolina state bird. Funny since we only see them in NC for part of the year. Actually, now that I think about it, the whole concept of having a “state bird” is a little weird. Though no stranger than a state dog and state vegetable, I suppose. 😉
Speaking of birds, I just took some very bad pictures of a huuuuuge flock of some sort of bird flying by our house…I’ll be sharing on Thursday. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
By nerdinthebrain on January 18, 2015 at 11:02 am
I’ll be looking for yur flock on Thursday, Nerdy. Maybe we can figure out whch state bird it is by your flock of followers! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 2:05 pm
Cardinals, love them
LikeLike
By Martha Keim-St. Louis on January 18, 2015 at 10:28 am
Me, too, Martha. 🙂
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 2:01 pm
The Ohio state bird! I haven’t lived in Ohio for about 30 years. Why is that factoid still rattling around inside my head?
LikeLiked by 2 people
By Exile on Pain Street on January 18, 2015 at 10:01 am
Because they’re so damn beautiful, Mark. And you always wondered when you were a kid why they picked the St. Louis mascot as the Ohio state bird. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 10:14 am
I think the cardinals are stunning birds – we don’t have any birds quite the same as them here. I love the birds that visit us – I never encourage pigeons though as they are a real nusiance and once you have them you can’t get rid of them.
I miss the parakeets that used to fly by our old house but they don’t really belong here are will probably turn out to be a nusiance!
Great photos – your patience paid off.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By lundygirl on January 18, 2015 at 9:55 am
Thanks, Rachel. You’ll get a whole new flock in your new place, and I can’t wait to see them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 10:12 am
Cardinals are so awesome. I see them flitting about randomly. But what I can’t understand are the crows. They are here, no matter what. They never leave. And during the winter months they greet us as we go in to work cawing and mocking us as we enter the building. I much prefer the dashing red birds who lift our spirits. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
By Chatter Master on January 18, 2015 at 9:18 am
In some places in Central New York the crows are so abundant that there are stories in the media about the principalities convening to decided about actions to take about their “crow problem,” Colleen. They are big and bold, that is for sure.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 9:22 am
And quite loud about sharing their opinions with us mere humans. 😉 Good luck to the principalities. People at work actually, at one time, complained to administration at work. I don’t know what they expected our admin to do. They didn’t bring the birds in. 🙂
LikeLike
By Chatter Master on January 18, 2015 at 10:43 pm
Ha! You birds, come over here with us, please. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 11:27 pm
Exactly. They aren’t Dr. Doolittle’s…..
LikeLike
By Chatter Master on January 19, 2015 at 11:23 am
I’m a shameless and voracious bird feeder. My front and back porches are loaded with cardinals…I love them!
Did you know that a cardinal in the backdrop of snow is supposed to remind us of our loved ones who have passed away? I like to think that they are my grandmas coming to pay a visit.
Great pics!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
By MamaMickTerry on January 18, 2015 at 9:08 am
I was not aware of that cardinal lore, Michelle. Thanks for providing me with something more to mull the next time I spot my birds out back. And thanks for your kind words about my photos, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 9:18 am
The red cardinal is the Virginia State Bird! And they are the most skittish of all the birds at my feeder. Maybe they’ve had to develop that instinct because they do stand out so dramatically in the winter landscape. Mine hide in bushes, dart out to the ground under the feeder and get some seeds, and dart back into shelter. Really tough to get a good shot of them.
LikeLiked by 2 people
By Silver in the Barn on January 18, 2015 at 8:47 am
Thanks so much for putting my triumph into sharper perspective for me, Barbara! I’m glad you get the cardinals at your feeder down there to enjoy and chase with your camera, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 9:16 am
I heard one singing in the yard yesterday but I never got to see it:) I hope he returns.
LikeLike
By Rose Red on January 18, 2015 at 8:33 am
Yes, to see the singer as well as hear the song would make the day for you, Rose Red. 🙂
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 9:15 am
Was it an Arizona Cardinal or a St. Louis one? 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
By Austin on January 18, 2015 at 8:22 am
They were still pretty fast, Austin. I couldn’t read their jerseys!
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 9:14 am
Well, maybe they were from Louisville…
LikeLike
By Austin on January 18, 2015 at 9:47 am
I LOVE cardinals., although I have not seen any lately. We sometimes get a blue jay or two, not usually in the winter. But how exciting that must have been to see so many cardinals at once.
LikeLike
By mohawkvalleygirl on January 18, 2015 at 7:50 am
I thought we had two, but to spot five really got me going, MVG. And we do get the bluejays, yes. Winter excitement, as you know, can be scarce. 🙂
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 9:12 am
And kudos to you for running right outside to capture the moment. Of course we all love to hibernate under blankets (or is that just me?), but the excitement might be just outside our door
LikeLike
By mohawkvalleygirl on January 18, 2015 at 10:01 am
I’ll venture out for minutes at a time! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 10:14 am
Beautiful post Mark 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
By irenedesign2011 on January 18, 2015 at 7:18 am
Thank you, Irene. Now they are my birds. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 9:09 am
I love cardinals! The tree outside my apartment had branches that came right up to my upstairs window where they would perch. Apartment management pruned the tree recently, much to the disappointment of the cats. The cardinals and blue jays are still out there but not as close as before.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By NotAPunkRocker on January 18, 2015 at 7:09 am
The cats must have loved the personal bird watching, Sheena. How lousy of management to be vigilant in tree care. 😦
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 9:09 am
Fun pics Mark. A veritable flock of cardinals. Fast shooting.
LikeLike
By Paul on January 18, 2015 at 7:08 am
Thanks, Paul. I was surprised but not outmatched this time.
LikeLike
By markbialczak on January 18, 2015 at 9:08 am