Saw something lovely this morning: the male cardinal perched in one of the small maples in the back yard. Since the tree is various shades of bright green, the vivid crimson of the cardinal was quite beautiful against it.

I am still trying to identify which bird outside sounds like a cricket. It is extraordinary.

In the meantime, the house finches continue to eat us out of house and home. "Arlo and Janis" did a strip last week about "why St. Francis is poor," showing the saint rushing out to buy birdseed, and I know how he felt! The poor male finch is quite harassed because there are two fledgelings that are still demanding to be fed. They can fly just fine, and perch on the deck rail not a foot away from the feeder watching the other finches, sparrows, titmice, chickadees, and nuthatches availing themselves of seed, but still demand that "Dad" feed them, fluttering their wings and persistently chirping. They gobble the seed as fast as the male can shove it in their mouths, then beg for more.

Labels: birds

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 2:05:00 PM

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