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Monday, February 9, 2015

A Female Cardinal At The Feeder

I finally got another kind of bird at my feeder other than Juncos. This female Cardinal came on the day it first began to snow. I was beginning to think that I was only ever going to get Juncos, so I was very surprised to see this Cardinal there.

I've had pictures of Cardinals before, but I've never had a female Cardinal. I think I saw one once, but never had a chance to get the pictures. And I really haven't seen birds here in Iowa much until I got this feeder. Just seeing this second kind of bird makes me really glad I got the feeder.

For those of you who are wondering how I know this is a female, you can tell by the color of the bird. A male Cardinal is very different. He is red all over, about the same color as her beak. The male is considered to be much more beautiful than the female, but right now this female is the most beautiful bird I've seen.

The feeder looks like the birds have really eaten it down a lot, doesn't it? The birds didn't do that. I got up a few mornings ago and found it in the middle of the yard chewed up like that. Evidently my neighborhood squirrels tried to carry it off.

Another few days and I had to get another one of these bell feeders. This time it wasn't the squirrels. My dog went out there and knocked this one under the porch. I was lucky enough that I had already bought the spare feeder a day before, so it was a quick replacement. That's how I'll keep doing things until it gets warmer.

After seeing this new bird though I'm very encouraged that I'll be seeing more. Now I'm wondering what might come next. I can't wait!

I'll talk to you later.

33 comments:

  1. Now, that is what I call good Bird TV!

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    1. I call it good Bird TV too, and I've been watching every day.

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  2. We were on the same thought process today, I posted Cardinals also.

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    1. Your cardinal pictures are wonderful I went over and looked immediately.

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  3. Oh, I would love to get a Cardinal at my feeder. I grew up seeing them but no more. That female seems a lot more colorful than most I've seen in photographs, very bright beak in particular.

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    1. There are many birds I don't see anymore too, so I sympathize. I miss each one. The female cardinal is a nice one. She comes almost every day.

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  4. I love to watch my feeders...though they are mostly covered with squirrels, except for a short time before it gets dark.

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    1. I haven't had too much trouble with squirrels yet, but bigger birds are getting kind of aggressive.

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  5. she's a beauty, you photograph her well!! i use those bells also, in and around my feeding stations!!!

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    1. I'm glad someone else uses the bells too. I'm going to have to use something else soon because bigger birds keep knocking them down and breaking them.

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  6. ohhhhh and the snow was a real plus!!!!

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    1. I got really lucky with the snow, and lucky that the camera picked the falling snow up.

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  7. i love the female cardinals. i think their subtle coloration is just gorgeous.

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    1. I never knew how good they looked until I saw this first one coming to the feeder.

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  8. She's a pretty girl. I'm sure she appreciates the meal on that cold, winter day.

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    1. They do seem to show up more on the days when the weather is kind of bad.

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  9. She's a pretty girl. I'm sure she appreciates the meal on that cold, winter day.

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  10. it's always exciting seeing new kinds of birds show up. When we first put ours out we mostly got sparrows but eventually we started getting a variety. Patience and lots of bird seed pays off :)

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    1. That's kind of how it's worked out for me too. First the juncos and then others are coming.

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  11. Great shot of the beautiful cardinal!

    Happy week to you,
    artmusedog and carol

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  12. She is brave and beautiful! Wonderful shots of this great bird!

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    1. She really is more beautiful than I expected before I ever saw one.

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  13. Well, you are off to a good start! You'll be complaining about sparrows in no time. Hahaha!

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    1. I'll love seeing the sparrows when they get here. I'll probably do endless posts about them. :)

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  14. Beautiful the Cardinal, nice the feeder as well.

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    1. I like these feeders because they don't cost much. it has been a good one to begin with.

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  15. I think this mama bird is as elegant as her more colorful mate. They're wonderful birds. I t

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    1. The female cardinal is really more beautiful than I expected. She's a good match for the male.

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  16. Squirrels are cute but feeding them can get expensive! And they sure did a wrecking job on that pretty bell. Sorry for the two comments. IPad does not obey me sometimes.

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    1. The squirrels tore it up a little, but the birds did the rest. A few big birds destroyed my next bell feeder.

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  17. Wonderful! I hope you get lots more birds.

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    1. I hope I do too. I think I'm going to have to get a better feeder though.

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