I took this picture today – through my kitchen window, from about 30 yards out. If you look closely, you can see a cardinal in one of the trees.
I uploaded it to some photo editing software that I downloaded from the net (Faststone Image Viewer), and zoomed in on the bird. The first attempt came in like this:
Thinking I could maybe get even closer, I zoomed in again. The final picture looks like this:
If I make it any larger, I loose a lot of clarity. Even so, for a shot taken through a window, I think it came out pretty good.
Mar 17, 2007 @ 22:07:19
Fantastic! I will get Faststone as a result of seeing your cardinal. Thank you..
Mar 18, 2007 @ 00:30:44
Beautiful photos! I think it’s cool that NC and VA have the same state bird. Something that intrigues me about the Cardinal is the bond between the male and female. Seeing the male feed the female that select morsel is so sweet. I just melt when I see that at our feeder.
Mar 18, 2007 @ 08:45:24
It came out real good..we have Cardinals nesting in our trees and eating at the feeders I built. Beautiful birds. My nect camera is gonna have at least a 6X zoom and maybe a 10X so I can get some decent pictures of them
Mar 19, 2007 @ 00:35:59
I rarely see them. It seems pigeons and grackles rule the roost around here.
Great picture!
Mar 19, 2007 @ 12:44:42
Trying to take pictures through the panes of glass can be trying.
BTW, thanks for the compliment you left over at my place. What follows are answers to your questions. (The same thing was left at my site directly below your comment and there are some links to eNature.com over there. They didn’t seem to come over when I copied and pasted.)
Blackbirds is a generic term (like LBJ= Little brown jobs) and is used with many species.
Grackles and Magpies are two very different groups/species. There are several different species in the grackle family.
Black-billed and Yellow-billed Magpies are much different than grackles. Fairly large black and white birds, Black-billed Magpies are found in the western Great Plains to the Pacific coast. They reach as far north as Alaska and as far south as Texas. They may even be found in Eurasia. Black-billed Magpie (The yellow-billed is a smaller version and is only in California.)