November 3, 2025
I leave my gardens and their seeds for the birds. This picture, a look of appreciation from a Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) as it chows down on the seeds of Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida).
So many benefits of leaving those seedheads.
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February 20, 2025
It snowed all day long yesterday, leaving 2.5 inches of snow on the ground. This morning it started back up again but didn’t last very long. Today, just a dusting. Among the birds out looking for something to eat, I counted 13 Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis). Beautiful accents of color against the black and white landscape.
It’s interesting how Cardinals get their beautiful coloring — through their diet. Eating red and purple fruits which contain pigments called carotenoids. These pigments color their feathers and even their beaks.
So nice to have these red birds around.
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February 2, 2025
Two Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) in a Flowering Dogwood tree (Cornus florida) about two weeks ago, puffed up against the very cold temperatures. That day, and today, quite similar. High temperature for both days only creeping to the mid-thirties.
Cardinals are monogamous, staying together from the mating season through the winter. Some Cardinals though will find other mates after that time period. The rest, about eighty percent, stay together for their entire lives.
It is wonderful to see Cardinals during the winter. After seeing isolated pairs during the mating season, winter brings on a different scene with many gathering together to find food. I will easily see ten at a time when I put out hulled sunflower seeds.
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A female Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) at the old garden gate, watching all the action.
Five days with nine inches of snow on the ground. Temperatures so cold that there is no melting. And now as I sit here writing this post there is another snow event happening.
During these snowy days I’ve upped the amount of things I’m putting out for the birds. For the past several months I’ve only had one suet feeder out on a post. Nothing more. But the morning of the first snowfall I put out a second feeder with suet in it, and I scattered hulled sunflower seeds and whole peanuts.
What a change in my bird community. I’ve counted 17 bird species. No unusual species. It’s just unusual to see them all at once, nearly all the time.
Pure pleasure for me.
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