Morning Dove Posing | How Sweet Morning Doves tend to stick around for winter. With the leaves off the trees, sometimes they make great images. For the whole story with all images, see Morning Dove Posing | a 7 Image Story.
Morning Dove Posing | a 7 Image Story Morning Doves tend to stick around for winter. With the leaves off the trees, sometimes they make great images. They don’t seem to mind the cold and snow. It probably helps that they have plenty of seed to eat from my bird feeder. This Morning Dove hung around this tree for a long time. In fact, it posed in several positions on the same branch. Maybe, it knew the camera was clicking away. It was almost like it was saying: “notice my beautiful back feathers! I know you are clicking away.” The branch made it hard for the Morning Dove to continue walking down the branch. It seems to be a dead-end. Photo shoots must come to an end, just remember. An old photography guideline says to always have the eye of the critter in focus. And, a closely related guideline proclaims to almost always show the eye in the frame.
Each image will be posted individually this week under category Morning Dove Posing.
Click any image below for a slide show!
Winter Birds by Feeder | Morning Dove Morning Doves are common in northern Illinois. The thing I like about Morning Doves; they don’t seem to easily scare, especially in the winter. Still, it seems a bit odd to me that they would stick around all winter, when they have wings. Yet, here they are; waiting for spring like the rest of us. To see the entire story with all seven images, go to Winter Birds by Feeder | a 7 Image Story.
Winter Birds by Feeder | a 7 Image Story Colorful winter birds cheer us up during the long, cold winter months. My bird feeder gets used heavily in the winter; particularly when show covers the ground. In fact, sometimes there’s so many birds, it seems like they need a control tower to direct air traffic. They do have their own version of “see and avoid.” The smaller birds give way to the larger ones on the feeder. Many just fly down to the ground beneath the feeder to get leftovers. When a Blue Jay arrives, all birds clear out or given it wide birth. Of course, many more than seven bird species visit the feeder during winter months. For this post, I’ve chosen some of the more colorful birds as well as the more frequent visitors. Perhaps, another post will be needed later.
First things first, why not call the red-bellied woodpecker, a red-headed woodpecker instead? You might not have noticed the rose coloring on a red-bellied woodpecker’s breast. Whoever first named this bird must have had a strange sense of humor. I’m not a birder so I don’t get it. Still, it’s call a red-bellied woodpecker. And, why are Blue Jays mean? Because they are. For that matter, why do some birds stick around for the winter while others leave to warmer climates? Experts tell us that birds can and do survive extremely harsh winters. The primary reason for migration is food. Some birds can forage for insects in the bark of trees and find enough other food to make it through the cold winter months. In fact, in some areas even a few American robins stay through the winter months.
Winter can be a difficult time to capture wildlife images particularly small birds. Sure fewer leaves on the trees make it a bit easier to capture an image of the species remaining. Getting close enough to the bird with a long lens still remains the biggest obstacle. Placing a bird feeder close to windows and doors make a big difference. Even then, shooting images through windows takes skill and post processing software. These seven images were captured with a 70-300mm lens, equivalent to 189-810mm using a 2.7 crop factor on the V1 & V3, at a distance between 5 and 15 feet. Little birds tend to have big lenses pointed at them.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Winter Birds by Feeder.
Click any image below for a slide show!
Snow Makes the Image | Morning Dove This Morning Dove would just blend into the background tree branches if not for the snow. The snow make an average image into a nice photograph. To see the entire story with all seven images, go to Snow Makes the Image | a 7 Image Story.
Morning Dove on a Dock Docks get installed in Midwest lakes in the Spring. This Morning Dove quickly finds a nice comfy perch.
Morning Dove Occasionally, It’s possible to get a close-up of a Morning Dove. In the winter, they seem to become less excited with people close by.
Morning Dove in Snow This Morning Dove looks very different from the one posted a few days ago; different light, add snow!
