Cardinal

This is one of my husband's best little friends in the yard, the male cardinal. We can hear his cheery calls from anywhere both outside and inside our house, and he is a frequent visitor to the peanut tray in the front yard. He tends to be especially vocal at dawn and dusk.

He makes a variety of calls, one of which sounds like those old-fashioned Christmas bubble lights my Grammy used to have. I'm including a link to the Cornell Ornithology website, where you may listen to the Northern Cardinal's calls and learn more about this beautiful, brightly colored bird.

He actually seems to come when my husband goes out into the yard and calls for him. And he has even been known to follow my husband around the yard. For a bird, he seems a pretty devoted friend. (He may also know who butters his bread, so to speak.)

Mr. Cardinal spends most of his time with his mate, the Lady Cardinal. On this day, she was mere moments behind him on the snack tray. Sometimes, I see him feeding her, but that's a tough shot to catch! I did notice that the pink redbud blooms in the background gave me some nice pinks in the background bokeh.

The song for this bright red bird whose calls can be heard livening up the morning is Morningbird, by Forest Sun.