Northern Red

It was a scorching hot and humid summer morning. Shortly after sunrise the temperature was already close to thirty Celsius. I was sitting in my photo blind where the temperature definitely was beyond the 30-degree mark. I was concentrating on 2 female deer in the meadow I was in. The edge of the meadow was lined with songbirds, their music filled my ears. All of a sudden, my attention was diverted to a vibrant flash of red and the high-pitched call of a male cardinal who perched close by. He had landed on a branch along the meadows edge. His song was almost as if he was saying "Hey turn your camera this way and take my photo"! The early morning light bathed the extreme outer edge of the bush, with the backdrop falling into dark shadows. The striking contrast of light and dark, the vibrant Corvette red of the little cardinal made him the centrepiece of the forest for just a few fleeting moments before he flew deeper into the woods to join his mate.