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December 18, 2009

It was a bitter cold morning, but this male Northern Cardinal was soaking up the warmth of the morning sun.

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December 10, 2009

I love the golden color of the female Northern Cardinal's winter plumage.  She doesn't seem to mind the fresh layer of snow.

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November 8, 2009

This is the second of 2 young male Northern Cardinals we have this year.  His brother was in a nearby tree when I took this shot.

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November 5, 2009

Dad Cardinal comes in regularly with his 2 sons.  Here he was in a snow covered approach tree getting ready to join one of the juveniles at a feeder.

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October 24, 2009

During last weeks snow, this juvenile male Cardinal snatched a crabapple by the stem. He kept trying to get at the fruit without letting go of the stem and finally ended up dropping it.

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October 16, 2009

The blueish feathers on the back of the male Cardinal are not normally very visible with side shots.  This photo shows how colorful the male's top feathers are.

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October 12, 2009

The female cardinal has been very elusive lately, staying hidden in bushes.  Here she ventured out in the open briefly on a sunny afternoon.

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October 3, 2009

Up until last week when this juvenile male cardinal showed up, I had only seen a juvenile female cardinal.  Notice the telltale black beak that only the juveniles have.  The adults have a red beak.

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July 16, 2009

Last week, I had been thinking that it was about time for the juvenile cardinals to start coming into the yard.  The very next day this juvenile female came to one of our feeder perches.  Her parents were not with her, so she has learned to forage for herself.

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July 16, 2009

The juvenile female cardinal was facing directly toward me as she ate sunflower seeds.  She would pop her head up every few seconds to look around.

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May 26, 2009

Here the female cardinal was cleaning up the leftover sunflower seeds in late afternoon.  In the attached video she is attacking her reflection in the back window of our truck and at the kitchen window.  She does this every year, thinking there is a female intruder in her territory.

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April 8, 2009

The cardinals did not mind the sleet and snow the other day.  This male is having his favorite breakfast, a combination of black-oiled sunflower and safflower seeds.

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March 11, 2009

This male cardinal was tucked in among the branches of our used Christmas tree.  It provided a nice sheltered feeding spot out of the cold breeze.  The cardinal territory calls are getting louder by the day.

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February 26, 2009

This first year male cardinal still has some of his juvenile tan splotching in his plumage - some on his breast and a bit around his eye.

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February 24, 2009

This adult male cardinal is already belting out his territory calls.  He has claimed our entire yard and horse pastures, and a big chunk of the woods across the road.  He likes to dine on the sunflower seeds I toss into our used Christmas tree.

Click on > symbol to play audio clip.

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February 4, 2009

This adult male cardinal was hiding in the dense brush in our front yard. He would pop his head up periodically allowing me to get a quick shot.

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January 30, 2009

This male cardinal perched on a branch overhanging our water garden pool.  He was in the process of chasing another male cardinal around our yard.

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January 5, 2009

The adult male cardinal likes to dine in this snowy spruce tree.  I sprinkle sunflower seeds on the snow covered branches.