Captivating Cardinals

Of all the birds that visit my backyard, cardinals have been the most difficult to photograph. They never stick around long enough for me to load up my camera; the slightest sign of danger has them quickly flying away to safety. But last week I got lucky one morning with a couple of males that were chasing each other around right outside my kitchen window.

My daughter is the one that actually spotted them, and as soon as she did, she yelled for me to hurry to the kitchen to �see the cardinals�. Oh my, more than one! I raced to get my camera, all the while telling myself that I�d never make it on time because I never do. But this time I got really lucky; they stuck around long enough for me to grab a couple of shots.

[I know the photos are not the greatest quality, but that�s the best my old
camera can do through a kitchen window so early in the morning.]

I told my daughter that these two males were probably chasing each other for one of two reasons:

1) They were fighting over the food in the bird feeder
2) They were fighting over a woman.

Well, wouldn�t you know it? About five seconds later, a female flew in and landed between them. Sadly, she didn�t stick around long enough for me to snap a photo of her. Still. Watching the male cardinals trying to impress that little lady was a lovely way to start the morning.

And you know, I swear I saw a smile on the female cardinal's face. With the way those two males were behaving, just like clowns, who could blame her? They reminded me of some teenage boys I knew in high school.

Well.

Once the testosterone battle was over, the fella in the picture below flew onto our maple tree and sang his little heart out.


I wonder if he was singing the blues because his heart was broken. I didn�t see the female coming around anymore, so perhaps the little lady he was trying to impress chose the other dude. Poor little critter...