Cardinal Nesting #2
Aug 2, 2018 17:06:37 #
The female Cardinal choosing to build a nest on the underside of our patio umbrella is very unusual. They usually nest in dense bushes or trees 4 to 6 feet off the ground. This post covers 4 days from hatching on the 22nd to the 25th of July. Nest photos were done with my iPhone with the forward facing lower resolution camera. The first photo is only 12 Hrs after hatching and chicks are already growing down.
The rest of the series are the mom and dad. They both brought food, but the male more so. The female sat on the nest about 75% of the day and all night. They both spent a fair amount of time checking out the chicks and looking for poop which they take away.
The female would leave the nest for 30 min or so to feed and bring back food. The chicks are pretty small at this time and do not get there heads above the nest edge from my shooting position. Most shots are thu my patio door. All shots are with flash.
The female became pretty tolerant of us and our pups using the back door. She only left when the commotion became too much. She would retreat to the bushes with much chirping til we left the area.
The last nest photo is 4 days from hatching and their growth is really amazing.
The patio door is about 6 feet from the nest.
Canon T6: 75-300mm IS USM at 135 to 300mm, F 6.3 to F 7.1, 1/125 to 1/160, 400 ISO
The rest of the series are the mom and dad. They both brought food, but the male more so. The female sat on the nest about 75% of the day and all night. They both spent a fair amount of time checking out the chicks and looking for poop which they take away.
The female would leave the nest for 30 min or so to feed and bring back food. The chicks are pretty small at this time and do not get there heads above the nest edge from my shooting position. Most shots are thu my patio door. All shots are with flash.
The female became pretty tolerant of us and our pups using the back door. She only left when the commotion became too much. She would retreat to the bushes with much chirping til we left the area.
The last nest photo is 4 days from hatching and their growth is really amazing.
The patio door is about 6 feet from the nest.
Canon T6: 75-300mm IS USM at 135 to 300mm, F 6.3 to F 7.1, 1/125 to 1/160, 400 ISO
12 Hours after hatching
(Download)
Sitting on the nest
(Download)
Transferring food
(Download)
Feeding the chicks
(Download)
Checking out my chicks
(Download)
Go ahead, take my picture
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Yup, I am pretty good looking
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4th day & they are getting feathers!
(Download)
Aug 2, 2018 17:19:30 #
Aug 2, 2018 17:46:17 #
UTMike wrote:
Good work! This is like having our own Discovery Channel.
Many thanks! My wife and I feel lucky to have had this happen right in front of us. I got back into DSLR photography about a year ago and I am darn glad I had the equipment to do this and the opportunity to share this event. We put up daily posts on our Facebook page and the response has been real special to us. My grandkids have really enjoyed this event.
Aug 2, 2018 17:56:20 #
Aug 3, 2018 07:23:04 #
Aug 3, 2018 13:53:12 #
Aug 3, 2018 20:42:11 #
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