Release the Kraken!

The temperatures have been dropping to more normal levels for this time of year, and the birds are hungry. My husband keeps several bird hospitality stations set up around the yard year-round, and he has a loyal following of birds who come in several times a day for snacks and baths.

Last winter, the main feeding station was set up in a location I could view from inside. However, it somehow got moved a bit sometime this year and now I can't see it from my window. So I decided to go out into the yard and sit a reasonable distance away and try to get a few bird shots.

This is a view of the female cardinal enjoying chopped peanuts as we were heading toward dusk. She was keeping a wary eye on me and eating at the same time. This shot caught her at mid-bite. Her head looked pointy and her jaws looked wild and scary. Kraken time, anyone? It reminded me of that Liam Neeson line from Clash of the Titans: Release the Kraken!

This family of cardinals, by the way, have lived on our property for longer than we have. They were here when I got here in 2004. We've been watching the main male and female for quite a while. I understand they mate for life. We have sometimes seen the male courting the female and feeding her snacks. They nest in our yard every summer and have produced several offspring.

According to a Penn State resource I found online, "On average, northern cardinals live for 3 years in the wild although several individuals have had life spans of 13 to 15 years. The longevity record for a captive northern cardinal is 28 ½ years."

We have not seen the main male cardinal in a while, and hope nothing untoward has happened to him. The female regularly shows up around feeding time, sometimes in the company of a younger male whom we believe to be an offspring from a prior summer. For the bird lovers, I'll include links to several prior blips of our cardinals below.

The song to accompany this image is Rockwell, with Somebody's Watching Me.

Bonus links:

"I'm a Lover, Not a Fighter"
In Which the Lady Cardinal Gets a Treat
Cardinal
The Crimson King
The Cardinal Wizard Shouted "FUEGO!!!!!"