Autumn cardinal

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Autumn cardinal

October 5, 2013 by Mike Powell

I love to photograph cardinals throughout the year, but I was really excited when I saw this male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) land on a tree with colorful fall foliage in the background. There were a lot of branches, but I somehow managed to get a facial shot with an interesting expression.

The cardinal seemed to be staring at me, silently criticizing my behavior. It reminded me of the expression that parents sometimes adopt when they want to publicly communicate their displeasure to their offspring without uttering a single word.

Posted in Art, Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, autumn, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, Huntley Meadows Park, Northern cardinal | 7 Comments

7 Responses

on October 5, 2013 at 9:02 pm | Reply iseebeautyallaroundbyrobpaine

great cardinal photo mike
- on October 6, 2013 at 5:23 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I really enjoy photographing cardinals, in part because they are one of the birds that stays in the area throughout the year.
on October 5, 2013 at 9:07 pm | Reply Lyle Krahn

All that red makes for a beautiful shot. I certainly hope you got whatever message it was sending.
- on October 6, 2013 at 5:25 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I think I got the message–I left him alone after I got the shot.
on October 6, 2013 at 8:59 am | Reply New Hampshire Gardener

He does look a little upset but at least he was willing to sit still while you got a great photo of him.
on October 7, 2013 at 5:23 pm | Reply Perched and Pretty ~ Two Lovely Cardinals | Green Healing Notes

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on October 7, 2013 at 5:27 pm | Reply dogkisses

Wonderful photo and description of the Cardinal! What a great look he is giving you 🙂 Really, a beautiful capture!