During these gray days of winter, bright colors are hard to find, so I jumped at the chance to photograph this male Northern Cardinal when I spotted him Monday high in a tree at Huntley Meadows Park, the local marshland where I take many of my nature photos.
For another burst of color, check out today’s posting “Winter Blues…” by fellow photographer and blogger, Walter Sanford, with gorgeous images of Painted Skimmer dragonflies that he photographed last June at the same park.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
So handsome!
In the bird world. the males seem to be so much more colorful and flashy than the females. which have a more subdued beauty. I am not sure that I could pull off wearing that shade of red!
Nice shot of a beautiful bird!
Thanks, Allen. It was an interesting challenge shooting almost straight up and trying to get a clear shot through the branches with my zoom lens extended to its full 600mm length.
Love to see Cardinals. We only have one pair in our backyard. Oodles of other species.
So beautiful! I just love birds and the color of a cardinal against that blue sky is majestic.
cate
Thanks. There is something so bold and beautiful about cardinals that they rarely fail to put a smile on my face.
That is a gorgeous bit of color, and so welcome on this cold, dreary, winter day.
Beautiful photo, Mike! So cheerful on these cold gray days we have here in northern NY. We get one male Cardinal on very rare occasions here at our home. His call is so distinct. When I hear it I run to the window to catch a glimpse of his bright red feathers before he disappears again for weeks at a time. As beautiful as he is, I find that a lot of people prefer the female with her soft reds and subdued greens and tans.
Thank you for pointing us in the direction of Walter Sanford’s Painted Skimmer! They brought back such good memories of my only sighting ever last June 6th on my property. I learned from Walters’ text that this one would have been a male – it had the “sunburned” face. It was an exciting day for me when I posted it on Northeast Odonata and found out from many people that it was rare in my part of NY State!! So, thanks for the beautiful photo, Mike, and for the memories from Walter 🙂 .
Thanks, Ginny. Walter and I share similar interests and sometimes shoot together. He is a real expert at capturing images of dragonflies (and is amazingly persistent in his efforts). I am glad that his shots brought back such pleasant memories of warmer days. As for the cardinals, I really like both the male and the female–they are each beautiful, albeit in different ways.
It’s interesting how ordinary the eye is compared to the rest of the colourful display. I’ve never seen one of these – that colour is quite something.
Your comment reminds me how big a role geography plays in determining what is “ordinary.” Somehow I assumed that with a name like “Northern Cardinal” that this bird would be common there too. The cardinal is the state bird for seven of our states, the most of any bird. This is certainly not my best shot of a cardinal, but it sure does highlight the bright color of the male.
Vibrant! That guy is going to be very sought after this spring!
I’m always jealous of your cardinals, I wish we had them here.