February 20, 2013

Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal


Cardinalis cardinalis

Such pretty birds! Northern cardinals are regular visitors to our feeders. The males are bright red; the females are green and gray with a few red highlights.

I don't know what's going on the last photo. The birds were quietly feeding and just as I clicked the shutter there was a flutter of wings and then the male flew off. In the frozen-in-time image, it appears that he attacked the female, but she did not seem flustered or hurt.


18 comments:

ladyfi said...

And what a lovely view it is too! Great shots of the cardinals.

Marie said...

Beautiful cardinal photos! I love how bright the sun is in that first shot just making them shine!

Julie said...

Gorgeous colour red, Linda. Good series on this bird that is foreign to my shores, although I have seen it many times in books.

wilf said...

What a beautiful creature! It definitely deserves to be photographed.

My Journey With Candida said...

Cardinals are so beautiful. To bad it's the males that are so vibrant.

NatureFootstep said...

a beautiful couple. :) Nice shots.

FP said...

Amazing photography. Exotica!!!

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Neat shots of our state bird!

George said...

I don't know what startled Mr. Cardinal in that last picture, but I like the result. You got wonderful photos of the cardinal couple.

Rosemary said...

You are featuring my favourite Mr and Mrs today! Their colours are such a welcome sight in my winter wonderland right now. I don't know what came over Mr Cardinal, he's usually such a gentleman!

Halcyon said...

So pretty! :)

Hilda R.B said...

So beautiful bird. I have never seen this before.
Great job!
From Hilda

Optimistic Existentialist said...

I LOVE cardinals!! Happens to be our state bird here :)

Daisy said...

We see a lot of cardinals here. I love the bright red of the male. Great photos!

gardeninacity said...

Great captures, especially that last photo. We've had lots of cardinals hanging around this winter here as well.

Linda said...

Thanks for the comments. The cardinal is our state bird in Virginia but also for about a half-dozen other states.

They are common here and it is interesting to hear from people who never get to see them. Sometimes I see four or five in our yard! So colorful!

eileeninmd said...

Beautiful shots of the Cardinals. The last shot is a great capture.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Linda, we also live in VA and often will see as many as 6 male and female cardinals at a time in the creoe myrtle trees near the feeders. It is unusual though to see both the male and female feed together. They seem to take turns.