Cardinal Litchfield of Brooklyn

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O'Brien

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

One Dog to Drool Them All

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O'Brien

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

A girl and her dog

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Runner, Biker, Walker, Dog.

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Dawn’s Clouds

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Four-legged Fetching Machine

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Run

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Robin Atop Eagle’s Wing

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Bee & Butterfly

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Walkway, Litchfield Villa

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

1886

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Emerald City

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Chalk Rainbow on Stone

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Morning Fitness in the Park

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Eye of the Tree

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Lamp, Leaves and Flowers

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Your Basic Brooklyn Butterfly

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Tree Pixies

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Squirrel on the Move

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Morning Run, Morning Fog

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Summer Bloom

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Human Paintbucket

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

The Woman in the Flower Dress

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Magilla Gorilla, in Peebles Pet Shop Window

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’BrienH

Morning Ride

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Liftoff!

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Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Morning Fog, Prospect Park

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O'Brien

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

His Eminence, the Cardinal of Prospect Park

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O'Brien

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

For over a month, I’ve occasionally seen this beautiful male Cardinal in Prospect Park on my morning hikes, but always had the wrong camera with me. Yesterday, I spotted him while carrying my Canon 5D Mark II DSLR. He and his mate (yesterday’s post) are nesting in the area behind the statue of Lafayette.

Female Cardinal in Prospect Park

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O'Brien

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

A little over a month ago, I was walking just inside Prospect Park, when I saw a male Cardinal.  For a city boy, accustomed to pigeons and starlings and robins,  seeing a male Cardinal is quite a sight.

Photographing with with the iPhone was useless; the wide angle lens is just not appropriate. So I began carrying my Canon 5D Mark II DSLR, with my 28-300 mm telephotos lens.

Every morning I took my DSLR, the bird was nowhere to be seen. If I brought only my iPhone, he was always right there, but too far away to capture with that lens.

Once I saw a female Cardinal, but the iPhone couldn’t capture her.

I got plenty of great images with my Canon on other days; but no Cardinals.

And then yesterday rolled around.

Around 6:05 AM Saturday, I saw and photographed the female shown above, a few yards inside the Park, behind the statue of Lafayette on Prospect Park West.

Female Cardinals are beautiful birds, but their plumage is nowhere near as colorful as the male.

A moment later, she flew away, and in her place landed her mate.

I’ll finally get to post his photo here tomorrow.

Ahab, I’ve found my white whale!

Explorers

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O'Brien

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien

Caught in the Act

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O'Brien

Photo copyright © 2016 by Gerry O’Brien