Nature Photography #2: Beautiful Cardinal

I have been trying to get a good shot of a cardinal for more then a year. Doesn't sound like too hard of a task does it? Well for me it has been anything but easy lol They tend to be very skiddish around people and move very quickly. So every shot I have gotten of one has turned out blurry or unusable. Until today!

I was at McMaster university in Hamilton, Ont. When I spotted this beautiful cardinal hopping along a curb. I pulled the camera out and headed towards it, hoping that it wouldn't get spooked. Surprisingly and thankfully it didn't, giving me the chance to grab these two shots.

Some more info about cardinals:

The Northern cardinal is 20-23 cm in length with a wingspan of 30 cm. Sexes are similar in size and shapes but differ in colour. Males are bright red with a black face and throat. Females and juveniles are an olive-buff with red edging. The males' distinctive, loud, slow-whistled song described as "cheer, cheer, cheer" and the common call note, a loud sharp chip, is often heard throughout the year.

Distribution is throughout eastern North America south of the Canadian Shield continuing into Central America. More common in the south, the first documented record of a Northern cardinal in Canada was in 1849; the first nest was not reported until 1901 at Point Pelee, Ont. They have continued their northern expansion across eastern Canada and are presently found throughout much of the Deciduous forest region of southern Ontario and, in lesser numbers in urban and rural habitats of the Great Lakes-St Lawrence Forest Region from southern Manitoba through Ontario, Québec and the southern Maritimes. Cardinals are non-migratory, year-round residents throughout their range, preferring brushy shrubland, parkland and gardens, often in association with human populations.
Source: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/cardinal/