One phot a day challenge: Day 80.

Today was a perfect day for birding. The weather was great. The sun was out. And the birds were active.

One of the reasons we chose to live where we do is the access to nature it provides. We have a nice yard with woodlands surrounding us. And we have trees distributed across the yard for birds to move through.

We have multiple bird feeders in a variety of locations so as many birds as possible have opportunities to find food.

After a nice run this morning I was able to relax and sit outside in our back yard and watch the birds. Birds were all around.

The Birds

Chickadees are never afraid and zoom everywhere. More skittish American goldfinches came and went. Dark-eyed juncos were feeding on the ground. I saw a sparrow I could not identify on the ground below me. The red-winged blackbirds made an appearance. I saw male and female northern cardinals in the distance. Two red-tailed hawks even soared across the sky briefly.

But my favorite from today were the pine siskins. I don’t see them often. They are only found in our region around winter time. Now that it is spring I might not see them again.

The pine siskins have a really cool sound that you can listen to here at Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds website.

The bright sun really illuminated the birds well. The bright sun also creates a lot of shadows. The tree branches are great spots for the birds to perch. However, those same tree branches create shadows that can dramatically effect a photo.

A shadow in a photo can be a good thing or a bad thing. Shadows can obscure details or they can allow certain details to stand out.

I love how in this photo the pine siskin is peeking out from the shadow. The light is striking its eye and across its beak. This give s a nice highlight to the main focus of the photograph.