If you only saw one Cardinal a year, think how much you would appreciate their beauty. The male Cardinal in breeding colors is one of the most beautiful single colored birds in the world. Their fairly large size, their black mask and crest give them a distinctive and almost regal manner. Many birdwatchers all over the world outside of the U.S. view the Cardinal as a huge prize on their Life List.
Ah, but in my yard where I can hardly look out the window without seeing a Cardinal, their value as a noteworthy sight on my bird feeders honestly is not high. It is not that I don't see their beauty. It is just that I see it every day over and over again.
I'm not so crass as to not appreciate them at all, for one can't help but feel some joy in their beauty. Today, there were four males and at least five females around my yard (with ten feeders). I enjoyed watching them, along with the Goldfinches, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, House Finches, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, a single Pine Siskin, Chipping Sparrows, a Mockingbird and a couple of Song Sparrows. It was a busy day on the feeders.
As usual, I was there with my camera and managed to get several good shots. There is one of a Mockingbird that really stood out as he posed with a mean look at the camera and his bright yellow eye glowed in the sunlight. A House Finch managed to pose nicely as well, but those are not the ones that stood out.
Even though they are always out there, I still take pictures of Cardinals. They are actually a little hard to catch in the right way. That bright red is a difficult color at times. If you are not careful it glows and at other times it can be hard to see the detail. Then there is the black mask and jet black eyes. They can cause trouble as well. I do take their pictures but rarely am I pleased with what I "catch".
But luck was with me today. Somehow I caught a gorgeous male in bright color - out in the sun - and he is in all his glory. So much so that as I was cropping and adjusting the image in Lightroom, I was suddenly struck with his beauty. Enlarged on the computer screen, he was as pretty a bird as I have ever seen. Perfectly in feather, great look on his face combined to make one of "those" pictures. The ones you are lucky to have taken. But more importantly, it washed away those blinders of familiarity and let me see the Cardinal's beauty again. Maybe that is another form of stopping to smell the roses. I stopped and again found the beauty in this very common bird who is certainly uncommonly beautiful.
Makes me want to look around and see what else there is that is so familiar I no longer see.
Michael is a former biologist and Texas Master Naturalist. Originally from Newsome, Texas (Between Pittsburg and Winnsboro), educated in Dallas & Garland schools, then off to the University of Texas system where he received a degree in biology and worked as a biologist with the University of Texas system. After many years away from nature and biology, he relocated to the banks of Lake O' the Pines where he has been rediscovering the joys of nature. He is somewhat surprised that he has become a birder. Most of his interest in nature was centered around reptiles. Perhaps just like birds evolved from reptiles starting in the late Jurassic, he has begun his own evolution. During his formal education, his interests in biology/nature grew to include community ecology and population studies, all with a binding of evolutionary processes. He liked birds, but they were secondary at best. All at once he finds them fascinating.
Comments
Love this, Michael! An inspiring message, and one that I have been thinking myself lately...we sometimes get so accustomed to the beauty around us that we simply overlook it. Gorgeous shot!
Great blog, Michael! That is one handsome cardinal, and you got an amazing photo of him. It is great when the scales are peeled away from our eyes, and we see with fresh vision again. Great story of trying not to take these "common" birds for granted!