Cardinals

Around this time last year, when we were deep in snow, I wrote twice about the female cardinal / the beauty of the female cardinal and once about a pair of cardinals at our feeder.

Female cardinal, February 2011

This year, of course, we have had such a mild, dry winter that unless we get some big storms we're likely to be completely snow-free within a few weeks (one good warm day would probably do it, around where we live). But the cardinals are still here and still beautiful, even if they don't look quite so stunning without a blanket of white behind them.

Male and female cardinals, January 2011

I noted last year that the male is not friendly to the female until the spring breeding season arrives, at which point he stops chasing her away and starts offering her food. In the photo above, taken last January, it's unclear whether he was tolerating her or whether the divided feeding area kept him from being aware she was so close.