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Posts Tagged ‘cardinal’

Christmas cardinal

Posted in Birds, Christmas, commentary, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , , on December 25, 2012| 9 Comments »

Deep inside a bush with red berries, a male Northern Cardinal was almost camouflaged, most of his body a dusty red that blended in with his surroundings. His head, though, was a bright red, a defiant red that refused to be hidden. For me, it’s like the true meaning of Christmas, that is often camouflaged with bright lights and tinsel. My simple prayer today is one that we sang at a Christmas Eve service last night, Dona nobis pacem (Grant us peace). Peace to all this Christmas day and in the coming new year.Hidden cardinal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Lady cardinal

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on December 19, 2012| 6 Comments »

Male Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are featured in photographs much more frequently than their female counterparts. In fact, last week a male cardinal was the star of my blog entry entitled Cardinal Directions. The male cardinal is so bright and conspicuous that he is hard to miss, like a song played with the volume cranked up.

Sometimes, though, my eyes prefer a more delicate, refined beauty and at those moments I find the look of the lady cardinal more to my tastes. There is still some bright red coloration, but it serves as a tasteful accent against the warm brown tones of the rest of the body.

I usually have trouble getting clear shots of female cardinals, who seem to prefer the inside parts of bushes. In this case, I managed to get a mostly unobstructed view and the green of the background blurred out pretty well.

The position of her body is interesting too. It looks like she was facing forward and turned her head to look at me. Perhaps, though, I caught her in the midst of her morning exercise routine—the pose looks like the trunk twists that are done in aerobics classes. Cardinals (like most of us) are not immune to putting on some extra weight during the holiday season, it seems, and she may be trying to stay toned and fit.

Lady Cardinal

Lady Cardinal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Cardinal directions

Posted in Birds, Christmas, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , on December 15, 2012| 13 Comments »

The bright red plumage of the Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) reminded me today that Christmas is almost here. I guess it is such an obvious association that National Geographic featured the cardinal on the cover of its “Holiday” catalog. Cliché or not, I can’t help but smile whenever my eyes catch sight of a cardinal and somehow my spirits are lifted, particularly when the weather is gray and gloomy as it was early this morning.

Here are a couple of shots of the same cardinal that may appear to be identical. However, if you look closer, you will notice that the cardinal has his head turned in a slightly different direction. In the first one, the cardinal was looking right at me. There seems to be something more personal about our interaction when our eyes meet. He looks a little like he is growing weary of posing for me, but is patiently waiting for me to be finished.

cardinal2_blog

In the second photo (which was actually shot before the first one), the cardinal is looking off into the distance, alone with his thoughts and not yet aware  of the intruder with the camera. In some ways this photo seems to capture him in a more natural, unposed position.

cardinal_blog

At certain moments I like the second image more than the first, but most of the time I prefer to see eye-to-eye with a subject.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Bright color on a dreary day

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on December 7, 2012| 5 Comments »

It’s a cloudy gray day. It started out with rain and the weather has improved only marginally. I feel a need for some bright colors, so I am sharing a shot I took this past weekend of a male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) in a bush with bright red berries. Unlike most photos that I have taken of a cardinal, his eye is visible—normally it blends in with the black mask of his face.

The bright red color seems festive to me and reminds me that Christmas is almost here.

cardinal_blog

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Cardinal in the open

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , on November 8, 2012| 7 Comments »

It’s difficult enough for a bright red cardinal to hide when there are lots of leaves on a tree, but when the leaves are gone, it’s impossible.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Chubby cardinal

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , on November 4, 2012| 12 Comments »

Some people claim that the camera adds ten pounds, and that seems to be the case with this female Northern Cardinal. Maybe it’s just the angle or she had fluffed up her feathers for better insulation, but it sure looks to me like she has been fattening herself up for the winter. In fact, you probably noticed that I caught her in mid-bite. I’m not sure what she is eating, but there are lots of colorful berries in the background from which to choose.

Some people claim that they eat like a bird—I hope they don’t mean they eat like this particular bird.

Cardinal in mid-bite

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Punk rocker Cardinal

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on October 31, 2012| 7 Comments »

It looks like this female Northern Cardinal decided to get dressed up as a punk rocker for Halloween. She has put some gel in her bright red Mohawk and adopted an attitude. Her really bright eyes and vacant stare suggest that she might be under the influence of some natural or artificial stimulant. I was not able to get close enough to see if she has any tattoos or piercings, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

Happy Halloween!

Punk rocker Cardinal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Winged leaf peeper

Posted in Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged , , , , , , on October 24, 2012| 5 Comments »

In the autumn, rural areas in New England are often invaded by hordes of city dwellers anxious to see the spectacular fall foliage. Locals frequently refer (often derisively) to these outsiders as “leaf peepers.” Still, it’s hard to ignore the beauty of the changing leaves, and the Northern Cardinal in this photo appears to have paused for a moment to admire the scenery. Apparently birds can be leaf peepers too.

Northern Cardinal checks out the fall foliage

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Seed-eating Northern Cardinal

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged , , , , , , on October 18, 2012| 1 Comment »

I think that just about everybody can correctly identify this bird as a male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), the mascot of the St. Louis Cardinals. His flashy red color makes him very easy to spot, even when he is in heavy vegetation. The background and foreground of this image are pretty cluttered, but I love the way that it captures the cardinal as he is feeding, with seeds visible on his beak.

Northern Cardinal feeding on seeds

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Northern cardinal

Posted in Birds, Flowers, Gardening, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , on September 14, 2012| 5 Comments »

I have even greater respect for photographers who can capture clear images of birds after my experiences today. Previously I had shot a few photos of birds, but primarily in a garden setting. Today I tried to photograph some bright red birds that I think are Northern Cardinals in a meadow with lots of vegetation. Even though these birds are much bigger than the insects that I often photograph, they seemed to spook a lot easier and rarely placed themselves within the limits of my lenses. I think that I understand now why dedicated bird photographer need those huge lenses that I see them carrying. It also proved impossible for me to isolate the background (and foreground), which was often cluttered and blocked a clear view of the bird.

This is the best image I managed of the cardinal. The focus is not perfect and I had to do a mega-crop, but I like the overall look of the image and there is a clear view of the face.

Cardinal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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