May 2022

          Mom hatching eggs                                 One egg hatched                                   Dad visiting

       4 days old                                                             6 days old

The Last Day of the Cardinal Family

This is Day 8 in the life of the Baby.    This is a very eventful day.  

The baby cardinal sees me for the first time with his big eyes.  He is crushed in the nest under the heavy presence of the mother.   Apparently he is not pleased.  The mother steps out as usual to forage and feed him.  He sees his opportunity and steps out of the nest.  He has been perched on the branch for a long time and looks very comfortable.   The Mom and Dad cannot spot him and are really agitated.  They fly in and out and finally spot him.   The stay around him but cannot coax him to the nest.  Meanwhile the young one decides to explore if he can fly.   I spot him on the lawn.  When I approach him he is not aware of any danger.  He also cannot feed himself.  However he appears to be able to fly briefly on a stubby wing.  He keeps moving away from the nest with the parents following him.  He is in our neighbors yard.  Then he more far into the yard.  He is on the lawn while the parents are in the bushes.  After some time I cannot spot them.  That's the last I see of them.

It was a wonderful 20 days.  I am very fortunate to see up-close the effort, dedication,  and strength needed to create the next generation of a cardinal.  The patience and dedication of the Mom was inspiring.  The Dad was always around and often would find food for all of them.  It was a truly rebellious teen who hungered to be free before he completely thought through it all.  ( Or maybe he did not like me and wanted to get as far away as possible as I was always peering into the nest).

I seriously miss them and wish they are safe and will continue to prosper and awe us.  I am humbled by the discipline and strength of the mom cardinal.

Forgetmenots in the way back bed growing wild.  The tree peonies bloomed exactly on the same date a year ago.  The rest of the flowers were not at the same time.  This time the Lilacs bloomed well.