Ratel's photos #205 Forest Birds-155

The red crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)

I apologize for the poor quality photos. These birds sat very very high on a tree, in the shade, and I had no way to approach them, because this tree was beyond the river. It was very uncomfortable and dangerous to get to them through deep snowdrifts that were up to the waist and above. In post-processing photos, I tried to pull out shadows and at least something to fix. So that at least something could be seen.

The original RAW photo looks just black. Just look at that!

So...

I decided to walk near the river. Climbing through the deep snowdrifts, I heard unfamiliar bird voices. I looked around, and saw motions at the top of the pines. The birds themselves could not be seen (see photo above)
I took a test photo, and on the camera's screen increased photo to view the bird. And by the silhouette, or rather by the shape of the beak, I immediately guessed who is it!

These birds jumped on branches and dug into cones. Their unusually curved beak allows them to do so without problems.

Males are beautiful, bright red. And the females are gray with yellow.

I read in the encyclopedia that these birds even at -50C degrees sing songs! Wow! Harsh bird!

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• Nikon D5200
• Tamron SP AF 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD

#animalphotography #birding #whalepower #photocircle #photofeed #birds