Winter Cardinal

It sure is cold in Michigan right now! A couple inches of snow have fallen on the ground and the bird feeders have been crowded all day. What are you seeing today?

Ghetto Bird Feeder

Okay, now I want you to admit it. Do you have a bird feeder that is in bad shape but you're still using it even though you know you should've put it in the trash long ago? Well that's my story...but I don't have the heart to throw this feeder away. True, it's missing the plastic plexi glass on one side. And a squirrel has chewed the wood to smithereens. But the birds still seem to like it....


Here's my feisty Cardinal enjoying the feeder....




My Red-breasted Nuthatch has no problem with it...





...okay, maybe not everyone likes my ghetto bird feeder!

The reddest Cardinal I've ever seen

The sound of birds stops the noise in my mind.

- Carly Simon

Bird Humor

Alas I got no good bird shots the past couple days. So here's your dose of Shelley's warped bird humor!

Listening to love

For the past week, my male cardinal has been singing his heart out every morning. He is happy, he is in love and I think he's getting ready to have a family. I caught this photo of the object of his affection. Look at her tilting her head - she is listening to him sing from a nearby tree. Valentines Day has come early to my yard!

A day in the life of my cardinal

Hanging around - letting everyone know he's here by chirping non stop!

Here he is with a hunk of suet in his mouth. That's a first for me - never seen a cardinal on a suet feeder before! Have you?

Being chased by baby to feed her! (He didn't cooperate, he was being grumpy and running from her.)

Cardinal needing a clean up

This guy was quite the character. Squawked (literally made this raspy noise that I couldn't believe a cardinal could make!) at every sparrow that tried to join him on the feeder. I'm sure his appearance didn't win him any prizes either! :-)

The Cardinal Bird

A day and then a week passed by:
The redbird hanging from the sill
Sang not: and all were wondering why
It was so still-
When one bright morning, loud and clear,
Its whistle smote my drowsy ear,
Ten times repeated, til the sound
Filled every echoing niche around;
And all things earliest loved by me,
The bird, the brook, the flower, the tree,
Came back again, as thus I heard
The cardinal bird.

-William Davis Gallagher

Birds in the backyard

Bird activity was a little slow in the backyard today but I managed to capture a few photos.

This cardinal was eating peanut scraps off the table I used to fill my bird feeders. I loved how he was tilting his head - almost like he wanted to make sure he didn't miss a crumb.








The Mourning Dove babies just don't stop. They keep on coming....

Cardinal with an ego

I think I look pretty handsome today.




















I think this is my best side. What do you think?






















Oh please! Just go get me some sunflower seeds and quit messing around!

A Cardinal's search

I waited and watched for my little cardinal friend to find a seed on the ground. He was intimidated off the feeder by the Grackle. The cardinal walked around the wood chips searching and shortly thereafter he did find himself a big sunflower seed to crunch on.

Ladies Lunch - The Cardinal and the House Finch

Today I observed a "Ladies Lunch" with the female Cardinal and female House Finch. The cardinal was already enjoying the sunflower seeds when the finch flew in for a visit. In the second photo you can see the cardinal checking to see who joined her. In the third photo, the finch appears to be checking out her lunch partner too.