Friday, May 14, 2010

Kissing Cardinals

They're not really kissing, of course---he's feeding her---but it has all the appearance of a tender kiss---and it's the sweetest observation I've made yet in this meditative backyard journey.

A pair of cardinals comes to the deck feeder for sunflower seeds. She sits on the banister and waits. He gets a seed from the feeder and takes it to her on the banister. He strokes her open beak with his in the transfer of the seed. They do this two or three times before flying off together into the neighbor's holly tree across the sideyard fence, where they most certainly have a nest, judging from their frequent entering and exiting of the holly. Though I can't be sure, they are likely the same pair I saw mating in the azaleas last week.

That cardinals mate for life is their most endearing trait, I think, not to mention the brilliant gift of red they offer to anyone paying attention. dkm

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

They sound so lovely.

Sorry Deb, I havent blogged for a few days. Re Quillfeather, I think he was about 4 years old. Not really that old. Maybe he was sick, I remember seeing that his comb had drooped and wasn't a nice bright red. But he was just getting his feathers back from moulting. They are always miserable looking when in moult. Just one of those things, I guess.
I hope you are well and your bluebirds have claimed back their house. hehe I love how the female housewren chooses the house :o)

Lovella ♥ said...

Such a lovely spot to rest and observe the cardinal's through your eyes. I didn't know they had the practice of mating for life.
I was thinking you would so enjoy sitting in my backyard these days.
We have robins nesting in our climbing hydrangea and this year very low to the ground a pair of sparrows have built a nest in a bush and I nearly stepped on them. . .so it's another area in the garden that's off limits for me.

Thank you for stopping upon my blog. It is always a delight to hear from another menno. I wondered if you had found me through the blog called
http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/
You might enjoy a browse through there if you haven't already. It's all about food ..but there is a section on our history as well.

dkm said...

Yes---it was through MGCC, which was also new to me and I can't remember how I happened on it. Great blog. Thanks for stopping by mine. Enjoy the hydrangea robins.