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I have never been able to photograph any cardinal, I'm so bummed about that. I was trying to get all of the baseball birds... but the glorious red cardinal in flight with a snowy backdrop? I could never get close enough, nothing but potatoes.

I'm a Blue Jays fan, but those birds are evil.
Somewhere there is a Magpies baseball team https://www.facebook.com/MagpiesBaseballClubCentralCoast/ . Magpies are almost as evil as blue jays, but they are really funny to watch as they have a warped sense of humor, much like ravens.
 
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I have never been able to photograph any cardinal, I'm so bummed about that. I was trying to get all of the baseball birds... but the glorious red cardinal in flight with a snowy backdrop? I could never get close enough, nothing but potatoes.

I'm a Blue Jays fan, but those birds are evil.
Well, I have never been able to get a Blue Jay! Actually I have never seen one... Can't comment about the behavior. They are beautiful! I can imagine they are also "devil" - like many beautiful woman around ;)!
Concerning the Cardinals: the Red-crested Cardinal (on the photos that are the reason for your answer) is not a Cardinal at all (Common names... I hate them!!!). It belongs to different family!
Here, on Hawaii we have only one real Cardinal: the Northern cardinal! They have very different behavior! The Red-crested: if you sit in a park around a table (I have seen this many times on Oahu but I'm sure they will behave the same way on any other island here!) they will come around (prepare your 100mm/or less lens!). The Northern will never come, even if there is one around! The Red-crested is almost strict seed-eater, the Northern here prefers insects (but they will not ignore the seeds if there is noting more in terms of proteins!).
 
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Not as beautiful and technically perfect as yours, but a first timer for me:
I know that water rails (rallus aquaticus) live with us. ...
This time I could get a water rail (rallus aquaticus) in best light.
Most of the time I couldn't see them, but only hear them.
They had their chicks with them and the beeping and chattering was just wonderful.
I saw them in the shadow of the reeds first, so exposure time was not perfectly set.
But it is sharp enough. Others got morion blurr.
R6m2, RF100-500+1.4Ext, @420mm, f/10, 1/500, ISO640.

water_rail_2024_06.JPG

And it seems that the AI of the R6m2 has some kind of "protecting the privacy of minors" mode. :ROFLMAO:
Because I recognized that a chick was following and I had already prefocussed on the reeds. :geek:
And Spot AF was spot on. But the AF decided to mess it up totally :cry:

water_rail_2024_07.JPG
 
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I tried to get again the Yellow-faced Grassquit (long shot, the odds were against me) and off course it didn't happen. Now my dream is to get an adult male - they look different!
First is my beloved Red-billed Leiothrix, beautiful bird but common in the forest...
At least at the very end of my walk I got an African Silver Bill : rarely seen but known for that area! I included the last photo just to show the rump (tail covers and slightly above) - in the Indian Silver Bill these are white, here they are almost black. Otherwise both birds are very, very similar!
And it kind of made my day!

DSC_9513_DxO.jpgDSC_9516_DxO.jpgDSC_9622_DxO.jpgDSC_9628_DxO.jpgDSC_9639_DxO.jpg
 
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I recently noticed that wood pigeons (columba palumbus) are nesting in the neighbor's walnut tree. ...
Yesterday, I managed to get the first photos of the two chicks.
I suppose, those are also the last, because I believe, the chicks are dead. :cry:
Today in the morning I could hear magpies and when I later checked the nest it seemed to be empty.
If true, I know, that's nature. But I really hate how often those mean magpies succeed. :mad:
If I don't post any more photos, you'll know what happened.

R6m2, 100-500+Ext. @700mm+crop.

pidgeon_w_2024_07.JPG
f/10, 1/400, ISO6400

pidgeon_w_2024_08.JPG
f/10, 1/6400, ISO3200

pidgeon_w_2024_09.JPG
f/18, 1/40, ISO3200
 
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I tried to get again the Yellow-faced Grassquit (long shot, the odds were against me) and off course it didn't happen. Now my dream is to get an adult male - they look different!
First is my beloved Red-billed Leiothrix, beautiful bird but common in the forest...
At least at the very end of my walk I got an African Silver Bill : rarely seen but known for that area! I included the last photo just to show the rump (tail covers and slightly above) - in the Indian Silver Bill these are white, here they are almost black. Otherwise both birds are very, very similar!
And it kind of made my day!

Excellent series. Well done, ISv.
a025.gif
 
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Spending a few days in Shanghai, armed with the R7 and RF 100-400mm. It's swelteringly hood, like 39C/100F feeling like 44C because of the temperature. We can get out for photography only a few minutes each day. Day 1 wasn't so good, I wasn't used enough to the lighting conditions and the aren't many birds, and they hide in the shade - mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. A Chinese Blackbird (different from the European, an Azure-winged Magpie (nice) 3R3A9643-DxO_Blackbird_in_Shanghai-ls-tsm.jpeg3R3A9683-DxO_Azure_Winged_Magpie_shaut.jpg3R3A9700-DxO_Spotted_dove-ls-ts.jpegand a spotted dove.
 
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Day 2 was better, we discovered a small stream where they would fly in to bathe and cool down. A Black-crowned Night Heron, which we have seen abroad before, and Light-vented Bulbul and Longtailed Shrike - first time sighting for us.

3R3A9742-DxO_Black_crowned_night_heron-te1.9x.jpeg3R3A9805-DxO_Light-vented_Bulbul.jpg3R3A9810-DxO_Light-vented_Bulbul.jpg3R3A9827-DxO_longtailed_shrike-1.jpg3R3A9861-DxO_longtailed_shrike-0.7.jpg
 
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