Week 1 – Northern Cardinal

Welcome to Week 1 of my 52-week bird photography project where I will be uploading one bird photograph every week, and one wildlife video clip every month. Given internet access, every Wednesday I will unveil my photograph of the week. You can read my introductory blog post for more information.

I just returned to Boise Idaho from a two and a half week stint in upstate New York where I enjoyed some quality time with the family. For Week 1, I was hoping to secure a photo of an eastern bird species I would not likely find once I returned to Idaho, and while I did snap several photos of Blue Jays and male Cardinals, none turned out as well as I’d hoped. The days I had to devote to photography were unfortunately overcast with periods of snow, making for difficult lighting conditions. The only day of sun was December 31st, the day before my project started!!

I’d hoped for a great shot of a Blue Jay in memory of my late grandmother, Maxine Pollock, whose favorite color was blue. A capture of a beautiful male Northern Cardinal would have been a great second choice but the lighting conditions and the effect of my flash on the birds feathers made for an unpleasant, artificial feel. Nothing can replace real sunlight! Other species I saw while back in New York included: Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Tree Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Purple Finch, and Common Redpoll.

Just to clarify: I am uploading a bird photograph every week during 2013, but that photo has to be taken DURING that week. I cannot select a photograph from my archives that I took in the past. During some weeks, I may end up loading more than one photograph to my Flickr site (where you can also follow this blog), but I will only select the best one for each weeks blog post. I also encourage all of you to participate in the project and provide me with suggestions of birds you would like to see photographed, or suggest good site locations where you have recently spotted birds! The first photograph of the 52-week project is of a female Northern Cardinal.

Until next week…