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.