Now that springtime leaves and blossoms are reappearing, birds in the trees are getting harder for me to spot. Earlier this week I was happy to find this semi-hidden female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) at Huntley Meadows Park.
One of my friends asserts that female cardinals are more beautiful than their more boldly-colored male counterparts—it’s hard to disagree with him.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Advertisements
Wow, Mike! What a spectacular photo!. My husband agrees with your friend. He’s always said that the female Cardinal is far prettier than the male. Since SHE is prettier than he, perhaps HE’S more handsome than her 🙂 . Again, Mike, a fantastic picture.
Thanks, Ginny. This is one of the kind of photos that I tend to ignore when I am going through my photos and trying to decide what to post. The bird is partially obscured and the background is cluttered. However, there is something really nice about the cardinal’s expression and pose, so I decided to go with it. As for beauty, the bright red color of the male is striking, but is a little to bold and garish for some, who prefer the more subtle and refined beauty of the female cardinal.
Now that’s a seductive pose if ever there was one! Who could resist that pose???? Sally Morris swmorris3@aol.com
It’s definitely a sweet pose. Someone on Facebook suggested it would make a good card for Easter.
She looks a little cold. Or maybe she’s just extremely well fed.
I’m thinking it was the latter case (well fed), though there have been chilly moments despite the start of spring–it was 41 degrees this morning when I arrived at the park.