I have a large colony of Cardinals in my yard and the Woods of Otis, most were born here and never leave, there is plenty of free food and water 24/7, 365.
This old guy has been around a long time, he is the elder of the group of over two dozen Cardinals that reside here.

I was out on the deck last night (mosquito jungle)and saw him.....just a quick grab shot in the low light, and at ISO 6400, it is nowhere near perfect, but I did think it captured his "majesty".

Squirrels are always intimidating the birds here, scaring them off to get their food....this old guy and a few others won't budge!
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Regards!

[eaglem]

A very nice shot Rupert, love it!

[MSL]

Rupert - nice shot even if it isn't a squirrel. Aside from perhaps needing a little noise reduction, I think this is a very good capture especially given the challenging circumstances.

[lesmore49]

Great photo....that green, creamy bokeh really enhances the photo.

Story about this grand old Cardinal very interesting. Sounds like you live in a bit of a haven.

I've always wanted to see a Cardinal....never have. I think I'm too far north of their range. What a beautiful bird though.

[bluestringer]

Great shot!

[Sailor]

Great catch, Rupert, particularly considering the conditions. I've recently heard that cardinals have a voracious appetite for automotive wiring, but have deflected attention away from their nefarious activities by penning the blame on squirrels.

Jer

[Bruce Clark]

Good catch

[Rupert]

Great photo....that green, creamy bokeh really enhances the photo.

Story about this grand old Cardinal very interesting. Sounds like you live in a bit of a haven.

I've always wanted to see a Cardinal....never have. I think I'm too far north of their range. What a beautiful bird though.

Les...The Bigma can turn out some very nice bokeh, it is amazing what it can do with backgrounds given the right circumstances and settings. There are plenty of Cardinals in Canada, I see posts of them fairly often, even in the dead of winter, but I'm not sure just what part of Canada.

Thanks Guys! I liked him even though it wasn't the best shot...I thought he deserved a little attention that usually goes to those damn squirrels!

He was back tonight outside my window so I grabbed another shot through the glass.....looks like he might have tangled with one of Otis' Army Squirrels from the look of his breastplate?
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The object of his attention was this little young female that hasn't got all her color or feathers yet. Way too young for this old guy , but it doesn't ever hurt to look! If it did we'd all be in trouble!
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Regards!

[Bob Harris]

Great shots here Rupert, love what Jer said, you know, he might be right.

[lesmore49]

Les...The Bigma can turn out some very nice bokeh, it is amazing what it can do with backgrounds given the right circumstances and settings. There are plenty of Cardinals in Canada, I see posts of them fairly often, even in the dead of winter, but I'm not sure just what part of Canada

I recently bought a Sigma 150-500. I'm looking forward to getting some songbird photos. I'd be happy if I could get close to this photo in my bird photo attempts.

I'm on the prairies in western Canada. In the winter it can get to -30 to -35...sometimes -40 here. Might be too cold for these beautiful birds.

[leptim]

Good shots

[Rupert]

Thanks Bob......Otis has been spreading propaganda about the birds eating wiring.... I caught that squirrel under my Jeep hood red handed and in the act, it wasn't any bird!

Les...You will get plenty of great shots with the Bigma, better than these no doubt. Just practice and practice, it's not really that hard. Cardinals can live in very cold weather, but mine here never leave my yard or the Woods of Otis.....even when it is 115F like it gets in the summer. Why should they....feed is out every minute of every day! Plenty of water too! The cold beer is only for the squirrels in the Army of Otis......

Thanks Leptim! For high ISO they are "acceptable".

This is one of the top 5 shots viewed in my Flickr site......It is remarkable because it was shot with an old K10D and the Bigma as a quick grab shot.......and it proved that SR was a very handy addition to Pentax!

1/20 Handheld f6.7 @ 500mm ISO 560
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Regards!

[charliezap]

Nicely done Rupert. You gotta love that Bigma asI do.--charliezap

[daacon]

Nice capture Rupert can't keep an old bird down.