Seeing Red 7/16/22

The sunflower feeder in our back yard brings in a variety of birds, including finch, cardinals, robins, bluejays, and periodically a gray catbird, pigeon or crow. A few years ago we found a broad-winged hawk under the feeder digging through dropped seeds. But our favorite visitors are cardinals, especially the brightly colored males. (Note - the smaller bird in the above photo is a male house finch.)

For the past half-dozen years we have had a pair of cardinal nest in the tall bushes on our property line. They came to the feeder early in the morning and late in the afternoon to early evening, alternating one at a time.

This year there are two pair of cardinals that come to the feeder. We have seen a male or female on the feeder (as above) and a second cardinal of the same sex nearby.

As beautiful as the cardinals are, watching the "grounds crew" gather up sunflower seeds that fall also is a site to be seen. Our cat, Obie, especially like watching them.