SC Bird Photography --- It's so hard!

Thursday, 7 February 2013.  It's raining pretty good outside right now -- better than snow, I guess, which is what the Northeast is getting hit with from this storm sweeping up the Atlantic Coast.  Weatherman says were due rain over the next couple days.  Temps will be in the mid-50's, so we won't receive any of the real nasty stuff.  Guess I was fortunate that I decided to take a bike ride earlier today, around noon, before the rain hit. Temps were in the mid-50's with a slight overcast sky, but at least no rain.  I decided on a leisurely  bike ride around the campground, since my muscles were still rather stiff from performing some minor maintenance on the motorhome yesterday.  The work was pretty straight forward: reconfigure a couple storage area that the DirectTV guy tore apart. What I didn't count on were the compact spaces that I would be working in that required me to contort my body in all sorts of evil ways, to include lying on my back, hunched over in squatting position with my butt touching my heels, standing on my head, and various other assorted positions that even a yoga master at a Big Sur resort/spa would have problems with.  Well, maybe it wasn't quite that drastic, but I'm still plenty sore!

Anyway, while on the bike ride around the campground I noticed some bird activity among the small trees/bushes that line the perimeter of the Willow Tree campsites and lake.  A couple bright red cardinals caught my eye and I quickly rode back to the motorhome and grabbed my Canon EOS Rebel. I swapped lenses so that I'd have my 75-300mm telephoto lens with me.  I immediately found two red cardinals among some shrub trees that challenged my abilities as an amateur photographer.  The cardinals just wouldn't come any closer to the road and kept darting from one small shrub to another, making it difficult to try and snap a good shot.  I adjusted the lens for shooting "sporting" events (allows me to shoot about 5-6 frames per second), in hopes of getting at least one or two decent pics.  Thank goodness for digital cameras, since I must have taken close to 100 pics over the next 30 minutes.  Not only did I get several good shots of the bright red-plumed cardinals, but on the way back to the motorhome I spotted our first robins of the season feeding along the side of the roadway.  They were very skittish and I couldn't get very close; however, with the 75-300mm lens I think I came away with several good pics.  You be the judge.

I'm still on the lookout for the pair of eagles that I'm told linger around the far side of the lake.  And I know there's an owl somewhere behind us in the wooded campsites since we hear it at night.  Guess I'll just have lay in wait one day and see if my photographer's patience is up to the challenge.  Patience, grasshopper, patience.

This little guy really seemed to enjoy playing games with me this afternoon.  I was maybe 25 yards away, looking through some small shrubs/trees, so getting a clear shot was very difficult.  To make matters even worse, he would flit from one tree or shrub/bush to another just as I was ready to snap his pic.  Or worse, he'd go and turn his back on me!  I'm sure out of spite (see pic below).

However, my patience and diligence was finally rewarded (after many, many other shots) with the following close-up of this magnificent cardinal.  If you blow the pic up, you might be able to see him looking out of his eye at me.  I like to think he's saying, "Okay, here's your damn photo. Now go away and leave me alone!"

The two robins I saw on the way back to the motorhome proved elusive, since I couldn't get any closer than about 15 yards away before the flew off into the underbrush.  Once I left, they came back to feed on whatever it was they were after in the grass.  The brown grass wasn't a very good background, either, so the scenery accompanying the follow "robin" shots is rather drab.  But the first robins of spring!

If you look closely -- or blow this up a bit -- you'll notice a dandelion stalk right in front of the robin on the left.  Almost looks like some sort of "microphone" for the bird to use in singing his song!