Cloaked against the cold

Feeds:: Posts; Comments

Cloaked against the cold

March 8, 2013 by Mike Powell

On a cool and windy day, this bright scarlet male Northern Cardinal looks like he chose to wrap himself in an old-fashioned cloak for protection from the elements.

I really was struck today by the sharp distinction between the coloration of the head and the rest of the body of this cardinal.

Do cardinals change colors in the spring?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography | Tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, cloak, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern cardinal | 11 Comments

11 Responses

on March 8, 2013 at 6:40 pm | Reply McPhedran Phocus

Very nice
- on March 8, 2013 at 6:41 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I love photographing cardinals. There is something about their distinctive shape and color that makes me happy.
on March 8, 2013 at 10:39 pm | Reply krikitarts

What a beautiful portrait!
- on March 8, 2013 at 10:48 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Gary.
on March 8, 2013 at 11:20 pm | Reply Carol Welsh

That’s a beautiful photo…love the colors! 😉
- on March 8, 2013 at 11:46 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Carol. I was struck by the fact that the cardinal was not a solid red. I like the two-tone look.
  - on March 9, 2013 at 12:03 am Carol Welsh
    
    Yes…and it looks so beautiful against the colors of the background. Have a good weekend, Mike. 🙂
on March 9, 2013 at 12:09 am | Reply Sue

Mike, what you are seeing is the muted colors of the fall-winter cardinal plumage. The tips of the feathers that look brownish in the photo will eventually wear away to reveal a brighter red color below. By the end of summer, all his feathers will be very ragged, and the bird will gradually replace them during its fall molt. Sometime all the head feathers may fall out at once, making the bird look bald.

That is a really beautiful photo of a beautiful bird. To use your previous expression– shooting the ordinary well.
- on March 9, 2013 at 5:54 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Sue, for the explanation of the colors. I am still pretty much of a neophyte when it comes to birds, but I am learning all the time. I guess that I will need to be on the lookout for bald cardinals. In my mind’s eye, that should be a funny sight.
on March 9, 2013 at 3:27 am | Reply Cogtography

Brilliant photograph! Great work!!
- on March 9, 2013 at 5:51 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. My eyes are drawn to cardinals whenever I see them and inevitably I try to get some shots–this one worked out pretty well.