Junco in the snow

DARK-EYED JUNCO, EVANSTON, ILLIN0IS, FEBRUARY 5, 2013

Pentax K20D
Sigma 135-400 at 320mm
1/250 sec. f8
ISO 800

These cheerful little juncos often are the first visitors to our feeders each day, soon followed en masse by their close cousins, the house sparrows.

His Eminence and the acolytes

NORTHERN CARDINAL WITH HOUSE SPARROWS, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, FEBRUARY 3, 2013

Pentax K20D
Sigma 135-400 at 220mm
1/125 sec. f8
ISO 800

At first Stan the cardinal seemed leery of the cloud of sparrows that frequents our backyard deck, but now he (and his consort) happily plunge in every time I refresh the birdseed. I am always startled by the in-camera intensity of the red the K-5 captures even on a cloudy day. There's no need to kick up the saturation in post processing. In fact, I have to desaturate it by about 30 per cent in Lightroom to get a decent print.