Song of hope

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Song of hope

December 24, 2012 by Mike Powell

On a cold, windy day this weekend, I visited one of the local gardens. Most of the color was gone and it was a desolate, lifeless place.

Then suddenly I heard a sound, the beautiful song of a bird. It was a Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) defiantly singing a song of hope and good cheer. It seems so appropriate for this Christmas season, a message of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

Northern Mockingbird

Posted in Birds, Christmas, Inspiration, Nature, Photography, Portraits | Tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Christmas, green spring gardens, hope, Mimus polyglottos, mockingbird, Northern Mockingbird | 14 Comments

14 Responses

on December 24, 2012 at 11:13 am | Reply Sue

For some reason, WordPress dropped you from my list of blogs followed. So, I’m back. What a nice Christmas photo Mike. Happy holidays to you!
on December 24, 2012 at 1:57 pm | Reply Jo Ann

Nowhere could be lifeless as long as there’s a mockingbird around!
- on December 24, 2012 at 3:36 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  For me, mockingbirds bring the same kind of joy to my ears that cardinals bring to my eyes.
on December 24, 2012 at 2:18 pm | Reply Vicki

a beautiful photo. Merry Christmas to you. 🙂
- on December 24, 2012 at 3:34 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you too, Vicki.
on December 24, 2012 at 2:29 pm | Reply caleephotography

Great capture, Mike! I´m in awe, my pictures of these small birds are never this sharp!! Well done, and a Merry Christmas to you!! Greetings from Sweden 🙂
- on December 24, 2012 at 3:44 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Merry Christmas to you too, Calee. In this case, the bird let me get really close, which meant I wasn’t at the extreme end of my telephoto zoom (I was at 229mm and not at 250mm). I was also at a relatively low ISO of 200 and was at F8 and 1/800 sec. My experience is that I get my sharpest photos when I can avoid the extremes of ISO, F-stop, and zooming. I was fortunately here in not having to crop too much as well. Hope you enjoy Sweden (and the snow that you undoubtedly have). I have loved your recent frost series.
on December 24, 2012 at 11:18 pm | Reply Stephanie

Blesses Christmas Mike!!
- on December 25, 2012 at 4:51 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Stephanie. Have yourself a wonderful Christmas too.
on December 25, 2012 at 9:22 am | Reply New Hampshire Gardener

We had mockingbirds in the yard one summer and hearing them everyday was fantastic. Merry Christmas Mike.
- on December 25, 2012 at 9:35 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, and best wishes to you for a wonderful Christmas and a blessed new year.
on December 27, 2012 at 5:22 am | Reply Fuzzy mockingbird « Mike Powell

[…] few days ago I featured a photo of a mockingbird in a posting entitled Song of Hope. That photo was unusual for me, because the bird was perched on the top of the bushes and not […]
on January 6, 2013 at 10:17 pm | Reply talain45

Beautiful image Mike, nice sharp photo 🙂
- on January 7, 2013 at 4:44 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  With many of my bird photos, I have to crop quite a bit. In this case the bird let me get pretty close and the light was good. Those two factors, more than anything else, account for the sharpness of the shot.