New Neighbors!!

In our bird studies, we recently learned about cardinals. They are quite the songbirds! In fact, the ones in our backyard keep us awake even at 2 at night! For most bird species, only the male sings, but for cardinals, both the male and the female serenade each other. They are red because of food they eat when they are developing (kind of like flamingos!). The males are bright red while the females have reddish areas on their tails, their beaks and a little on their wings. They are brownish gray everywhere else. We learned that they like to build their nests in tangles of vines and branches, not usually more than 8-10 feet off of the ground.

Well, we have tangles of vines and branches around 8-10 feet off of the ground near our house! In fact, right on the fence by our driveway! So, we began to wonder if the cardinals we would see and hear in the tree behind the garage might be planning on nesting somewhere near. And, our guesses were confirmed last week when, as we pulled into the driveway, we saw the female sitting on a nest in the vines. The van proved to be a good viewing spot, because she was less concerned about us and we could see her pretty close up!

So, here she is (as taken through the van window)! Look closely and you'll see her red tail to the left and her red beak to the right (she really does blend in pretty well!).

And here is what Matt (with his height advantage) saw today!

Yippeee!!