A Really Exciting "Got-The-Shot"

I Got the Shot. It is unbelievable. With the skittish couple this Spring, I didn’t think the photograph would be had… but I Got the Shot!

There is a little background you should be aware of to understand the importance of this “Got The Shot.” A few years ago, I met and became friends with two wonderful people, Joe Ann and Norm. At the Mother-Daughter Tea event at church one year, I was taking pictures/portraits. Joe Ann and her family asked to have a family portrait. What made their’s quite different was the five generations present for the portrait. This family portrait turned out so well I asked Joe Ann if it would be alright to enter the picture in the County Fair. It won second place for portrait. After the Mother-Daughter Tea, Joe Ann began to take more interest in my photography, especially photographing cardinals. She always had an encouraging word when we met.

The day Joe Ann died, the cardinals seemed to be quite active around the yard. I had been trying for sometime to get a close up photograph of a female cardinal. Not 5 feet from my window a female cardinal landed and stayed on the same limb for over 15 minutes. She could see me as I moved around the window frantically taking pictures. I expected any minute for her to fly away. She did not budge from the limb. And then what must have been her mate landed on a nearby branch. He too, did not move for several minutes and put on a show of fluffing his feathers. It was a cold day, and we were getting the first snowflakes of winter.

In the middle of this “photo shoot” with the cardinals, the phone rang. It was my husband who is the pastor of Greenwood United Methodist Church. He told me Joe Ann had just passed away and asked for the prayer line to be activated.

It seemed as though the female cardinal had taken the spirit of Joe Ann. It made sense that Joe Ann would have willed that cardinal to be there for me to get the picture she knew I’d wanted so much.

A few weeks later I shared this thought and experience with the family. Each grown child received a photograph of the female cardinal taken the day Joe Ann died. Norm received the female cardinal photograph but also a photograph of the male.

This Spring the “Kissing Cardinals” as I refer to them, have been coming to the back yard many times throughout the day. And there are many more cardinals coming into the yard to feed. I have been trying for years to take an up close picture that is crisp and in focus of this pair as they “kiss.” They are not actually kissing, they are passing seeds to one another as an expression of affection. Each time I would slowly, cautiously, sneak up to the window with camera in hand, they would fly away.
A couple of days ago, I got a photograph of them kissing but when I looked at the picture on the computer screen, the female was bald and the male’s plumage was discolored and some spots were bare. True love is blind to the outward appearances and this pair did not see their imperfections.

But today, I took the picture of another couple within ten feet from the window and in perfect focus. It appears there are more than one pair of “Kissing Cardinals” this year. That is a real blessing.

This year the “Kissing Cardinals” picture was extra important to me. My dear friend, Norm, passed away a couple of weeks ago. Is that why the cardinals have been plentiful this Spring? And now to have at least two pair of “Kissing Cardinals” has been very meaningful in understanding and coping with Norm’s death.

Norm and Joe Ann are once again together. And as they did on earth with their family and friends, they are now sharing their seeds of faith with one another. That, to me is why the “Kissing Cardinal” picture was so important this year. The family will have that picture to complete their set.

An Ordinary Friday...NOT!

Every once in a while a day comes along when everything goes right. Last Friday was one of those days. I had to pinch myself to see if it were a dream.

Right off the bat, I’m standing by the window watching the birds at the feeders while drinking my morning cup of tea. There is a flash of red in front of my eyes. It’s hovering right there; “in my face” would be a more direct description. The moment every birder’s in the neighborhood have been waiting for—the hummingbirds have arrived! This beautiful Ruby-throated Hummingbird is at attention in front of the window. Each year this particular little fellow announces, “I have arrived” in this way. And then he flies around the window looking for human activity. I think he’s asking, “Where’s the feeder?”

Everything stops. I go flying out to the garage and retrieve the feeders, rinse them off, fill them with sugar water and out to their rightful “homes” the feeders are placed. It is within minutes the little fellow is back, as though conducting an inspection of the grounds, to make sure his orders has been carried out.

I raise Zebra Finch as a hobby. And about 2 weeks ago I got this picture of two babies two days after they hatched.

Today I glanced at the cage. The babies were bounding around the cage grooming themselves. It is always a joy to see the babies out in the world the first day.

Here they are... they look like twins! And the photo below is Beaker (Daddy) looking proudly on his chicks...

At lunch, sitting at the table and looking out at the backyard, an invasion, truly, an invasion of Rose Breasted Grosbeak occurs. Four beautiful males are on the pole feeder and two females are on two other feeders. I grab my camera and begin photographing these colorful birds. Hanging in this big window is our Canary, Maestro, who is singing his heart out as I shoot away. All of a sudden Maestro lets out a screech and jumps away from the window. A male Grosbeak has flown up and landed on the window ledge. He is within inches of my head. We both eye one another. He stays there for some time allowing many photos to be taken, up close and personal. They are such magnificent birds.
They are such magnificent birds.


Did I say... they are such magnificent birds!

It was a day of defending territory at the feeders and pond. The birds seem to be staking out their place. Bird fights could be seen wherever two or more were gathered. The pond was especially popular. Many birds were bathing. And everyone wanted this “one spot.”

The “Kissing Cardinals” were in the backyard so I could now get some good pictures when they “kissed.” That is a true love story all by itself. Another time for that story.

Watching a male cardinal taking a bath in the pond was hilarious. Maybe that should be phrased “trying to take a bath.” After three tries, flying away and returning he finally succeeded in getting wet and figuring out how to “bird bathe.” But there was a territorial battle to get “the bathing spot.” A sparrow was a pest and the cardinal challenged her a number of times for the bathing spot. The sparrow finally left (after getting her bath).

I've been trying to entice an Oriole to the feeders. Of all times for an Oriole to show up, right at the moment the cardinal had gotten the hang of this bathing thing. That was not a good time.

Then the female cardinal decided to bathe. When she flew to the pond she was interrupted by, of all birds, an Indigo Bunting! For the past two years I have been blessed with seeing this bird at the feeders; but it has visited just one day each year. And here he was… today of all days. And he was not going to be left out of the territorial battles.

No, it was not an ordinary day. After blowing the smoke off the camera and letting it cool down, last count of the number of pictures taken was a whopping 400+. It’s great to have a digital camera. Film-wise that would have been over 11 rolls of film to buy and develop. How much would that have cost? I don’t want to know. But with digital… you just hit delete on the pictures you don’t want. Why so many pictures? The territorial challenges and bathings are quite active and the best way to get “THE shot” is to hold down the shutter button and pray the picture you want is not the one between the two photos just taken.

All in all, it was a super day. The only picture not taken was that of the hummingbird. There will be ample time this summer. And I have a 4 Gigabyte flashcard in the camera and one in the case (oh yeah, high speed—300x).

This female cardinal has some parting words...

Even the "Bird Spa" is busy, #@$%%&*##.