Feathers Flying

I just walked out into the back yard with my camera and noticed a big commotion going on with a group of cardinals. Even at high shutter speed, the motion is blurred in some of the images. In the end it appears that they reached some sort of resolution. Image quality isn't the best because I had to shoot through some branches.

Seems that two female cardinals had some sort of dispute going on.

Buzz off you hussy! He's mine.

Ladies, can I help settle this argument?

Did I tell you that you won the argument?

Cheep, cheep, cheep!

Chirp, chirp, chirp!

Nest? Well actually, I was thinking about migrating to South America.

Hmmm ... I think that I will pick up a few of these feathers as a little memento. I bet the guys at the office will be jealous when they see these.

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Val.
http://picasaweb.googl​e.com/sikorskienator
Picasa albums organized by bird species.
7D gripped, 40D gripped....100-400L Yes, it's taken with the Sigma 150-500.

- 7D & battery grip, 40D & battery grip, 17-55mm 2.8, 100-400mm L IS USM, Manfrotto 055 & 488 RC2, 3 (55mm) ext tubes.
- Powershot A540 and underwater housing.

www.wildnaturenewzeala​nd.co.nz

Canon 50D w/grip, Canon 7D, Mark II w/grip, Tokina UWA 11-16 2.8, Canon 17-55 2.8 IS, Canon 70-200 2.8 L IS, Canon 300 4 L IS, Canon 400 5.6 L, Canon 100 "macro" 2.8, Canon 60 "macro" 2.8, Canon Extender 1.4xII, Gitzo 3531S tripod w/Markins M20 ballhead, Gitzo GT2531EX tripod, Bogen-Manfrotto 681B monopod w/3232 head.

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Canon 5D MKIII, Canon 7D MKII, Canon 16-35 F4L IS, Canon 70-200mm F2.8, Canon 100-400 MKII, Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art

Art that takes you there. http://www.artyman.co.​uk
Ken
Canon 7D, 350D, 15-85, 18-55, 75-300, Cosina 100 Macro, Sigma 120-300

Mike
_______________
Canon 50D, canon 35mm, canon 18-55is, Tokina 10-17mm fisheye, canon 60mm macro, canon 70-200 L IS, canon 300 L IS f/4 and canon 400 DO IS f/4

Dave,
Canon 50D, EFS 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM, EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM, 300 f/4L IS USM, 1.4 extender, Manfrotto Tripod with a 322RC head, enthusiasm and love of outdoors!

Stan (See my gallery at http://www.pbase.com/s​parker1)

7D, 50D, 300D, EF-S 10-22 mm, EF-S 18-55 mm kit lens, EF 24-105 L IS, EF 50 mm 1.8, Sigma 150-500mm (Bigmos)

7d, 50D, 400mm f/5.6, 300mm f/4, 70-200mm f/4 IS, 50mm f/1.8

Waldemar Sikorski wrote in post #9362519
Fantastic action Bill.

Thank you, Val.

Mtn Breeze wrote in post #9362652
Awesome action shots there Bill. Love the third one.

Matt.

Thank you, Matt. I also like the action in #3.

Cyclop wrote in post #9363131
Clash of the titans, LOL! Great action series.

Thank you, Cyclop.

Duane N wrote in post #9363148
Great behavioral series. I see this in the spring but during the winter I think most are concentrating on survival.

Thank you, Duane. I also was very surprised by this apparent early mating ritual. The weather has gotten somewhat colder now, so maybe just eating berries is now higher on their list of priorities. We have an abundance of holly berries so it is not surprising to see them around.

ErnieT wrote in post #9363156
Wow great action! Awesome shots!

Thank you, Ernie.

artyman wrote in post #9363222
Unrequited love then

I believe that you are correct, Ken.
A mighty pain to love it is,And 'tis a pain that pain to miss;

trmwf wrote in post #9363660
Way to go Bill! Super action series and great story line to boot. Loved it.

Thank you, Mike.

Dascro wrote in post #9363787
Nice series of action shots. The open beaks and such really show the emotion involved. In this area, its not unusual to see Cardinals acting up like that in the spring.

Thank you, Dave. There were a lot of feather flying in the fight between the two females.

sparker1 wrote in post #9363798
Very good series, Bill.

Thank you, Stan.

dbriz wrote in post #9363872
Interesting "action" shots Bill... nicely done.

db

Thank you, db.

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Mark

Olympus OM-D E-M1 pro body, M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens, M.Zuiko 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 ED SWD lens, M. Zuiko EC-14 1.4 Teleconverter, M. Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens, M.Zuiko 9-18mm f/4-5.6 lens, M. Zuiko 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II lens, Canon 400mm f/5.6 L lens with Canon to OLympus converter, Nissin Di-466 Flash

Gerard

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away and know when to run
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealing's done