Cardinal in Freezing Rain

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Cardinal in Freezing Rain

February 24, 2013 by Abraham Lincoln

This male cardinal was in the freezing rain and when I photographed him, using my Canon EOS Digital Rebel T3i camera with Canon Zoom Lens EF-S 55-250mm 1:4 – 5.6 IS lens, I noticed the little balls of ice on his tail feathers. When he would take off and fly from this plant hook to the bird feeder, the little balls of ice would flip off and he was good to go.

Sleet and freezing rain begin moving into Central Indiana (fox59.com)

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Posted in Scribbler | Tagged Cardinal, Freezing Rain | 13 Comments

13 Responses

on February 24, 2013 at 5:38 PM | Reply PazsNYMinute

Another awesome photo!
- on February 25, 2013 at 7:59 PM | Reply Abraham Lincoln
  
  Thanks for your comment.
on February 24, 2013 at 5:49 PM | Reply Tracy

Wow! Love this shot. You must have a lot of patience to wait for the birds to be still. I have winter berries around my house that the blue birds love eating but, I am not patience enough to get such an awesome shot as yours.
- on February 25, 2013 at 7:59 PM | Reply Abraham Lincoln
  
  I am glad you thought about that, Tracy. So many people just think it is a matter of pointing the camera and shooting. I have, honestly waiting for long periods of time for a bird to appear or for it to move and perch in a certain way before I snap the picture.
on February 25, 2013 at 12:03 AM | Reply richmont1234

Fantastic! I can almost see the Cardinal shivering!
- on February 25, 2013 at 8:00 PM | Reply Abraham Lincoln
  
  They do shiver. It uses a tremendous amount of energy for birds, or humans, for that matter, to shiver.
on February 25, 2013 at 6:21 PM | Reply GadgetSponge.com

I really like those ice crystals on the tail feathers you mentioned. Definitely displays the frigid conditions.
- on February 25, 2013 at 8:01 PM | Reply Abraham Lincoln
  
  It was cold. Icy rain always seems cold. I could have photographed a multitude of bushes or tree limbs coated in ice but that is something we all get to see. How many people actually get to see a bird with ice balls on them and perched in the icy rain while it is raining? Not many.
  - on February 25, 2013 at 8:22 PM GadgetSponge.com
    
    Thanks a very good point. Probably a photograph I’ll never be able to take down here in Louisiana. Haha.
on February 26, 2013 at 9:21 PM | Reply Beatrice P. Boyd

While I have photographed birds around the feeders when we did have a bit of snow here in VA, it is also a rarity. Seeing tghis poor cardinal covered in ice made me wonder why it didn’t seek shelter elsewhere. And, yes I do know that you mean about waiting for just the fright shot, Abe…been there and did that in my days of using 35mm SLRs and later digital SLRs. Nowadays, the little Canon point & shoots are enough, but definitely no comparison for shots like you capture with your gear!
- on March 19, 2013 at 9:57 AM | Reply Abraham Lincoln
  
  I still wait sometimes for days for a bird to return. The brown creeper is one that only comes once or twice a year and when I see it I am almost always not in a position to shoot the camera. So I wait and wait, with a camera in hand and there it is. Snap. Snap. Snap.
on March 19, 2013 at 7:42 AM | Reply Babzy

great picture !
- on March 19, 2013 at 9:57 AM | Reply Abraham Lincoln
  
  Thanks for your visit and comment.