To meet the red bird

December 21, 2020 / Koshinetsu Region

Photographer / Toshikazu Nakamura

In December, when winter had fully arrived and reports of snow were coming in from all over the country, I headed to the mountain I've been going to for years, hoping to see the combination of pure white snow, frost and red birds.

I left home in the middle of the night and arrived at the field at 7am, and the outside temperature display in the car showed -9°C. When I got out of the car and looked around, there was almost no snow except in places that were not exposed to the sun, and contrary to the cold weather forecast, I couldn't see any frost, so I felt a little disappointed, but this is also natural and common in bird photography.

The bird I was looking for this time was Carpodacus roseus. Carpodacus roseus is a winter bird that mainly migrates to Honshu and north in winter, but there are not many of them. The male is a popular bird among birdwatchers because of its vivid red color. Even in the numbing cold, when you encounter its vivid red color, the cold will disappear and you will feel very happy with the joy of meeting it. It is such an attractive bird.

There is no snow underfoot, but I expect to walk around looking for birds, so I make sure to dress warmly and prepare my photography equipment and binoculars. Binoculars are an essential item for finding birds, observing their behavior, and thinking about how to photograph them afterwards. When walking around to look for birds and photograph them, like this time, I want to reduce the burden on my photography equipment by using as light a device as possible. So I chose a tripod equipped with a Markins BV-HEAD and attached my equipment. Depending on the situation, I prepared a 200-600mm zoom and a 600mm prime lens.

After walking for a while, I saw a shadow moving in the bush ahead and heard a "chit" sound. I looked in the direction of the moving shadow with binoculars and found the Carpodacus roseus I was looking for. To find Carpodacus roseus, which mainly likes to eat seeds such as bush clover, I look for plants with seeds that they like, but around this mountain there are many plants such as bush clover that Carpodacus roseus likes, and whether I can be there when Carpodacus roseus are eating depends on the timing. I have been going there for many years and have a vague idea of ​​the spots where I am likely to see them, but this time the timing seemed to be just right.

I saw several Carpodacus roseus with binoculars, roughly more than 10 birds. As I quietly observed them so as not to alarm them, they flew one by one to the tip of a bush clover tree branch and began to feed. Watching the Carpodacus roseus start to eat the seeds on the branch tips one after another, I predicted which direction they would move next and circled around in that direction to wait, and just as I had aimed, the flock gradually moved closer until I could take a photo. I aimed my lens slowly so as not to startle them, and looked through the viewfinder, and there I saw a vibrant male Carpodacus roseus intently eating the bush clover seeds.

After observing and photographing for a while, the flock of great tits flew away, as if satisfied with their meal. As I started walking again, I heard the voice of a Japanese bush warbler from above, so I looked up and found a flock of Japanese bush warblers flying. I followed the flock with my binoculars and saw them start to land on a tree a short distance away, so I went towards that tree and was lucky enough to meet a female Loxia curvirostra.

I found an individual resting on the end of a branch, so I chose a position where the light was backlit and took a photo; the edges of the bird shone, making its shape stand out.

The day of this interview, December 21st, was the winter solstice, and by 2:30 p.m. when this photo was taken, the sun was already starting to set and the sunlight was turning into evening sunlight.

This time, I managed to encounter and photograph my target bird, a flock of great tits, but encounters with wild birds are a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the results will vary depending on how often I can go out into the field.

This time, I wasn't able to take a photo that I was completely satisfied with, so I plan to return to this field in the near future, hoping to capture a red bird in a white world of snow and ice.

Toshikazu Nakamura

Born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1966. After graduating from Nihon University College of Art, Department of Photography, worked as an assistant before becoming a freelance photographer. Influenced by a friend, began bird watching in high school, and since then he has been recording the natural expressions and behaviors of birds around him. particular about "light" and strives to take photos that convey the feeling of "light".
In 2017, published first photo book, "BIRD CALL". Member of the Wild Bird Society of Japan
Member of the Society of Scientific Photography of Japan (SSP)