LIFE'S BETTER IN THE MOUNTAINS

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Of Cardinals and a Finch

One of the best things about our strange March 1 snow, was watching the birds on the snow-laden branches and at the feeders.

A female Cardinal tunnels under the snow.


She comes up with a beak covered in the white stuff.

A male Cardinal was sitting at a feeder, enjoying himself. Suddenly, a Purple Finch landed beside him on the feeder. The Cardinal doesn't like that very much.
The two birds move around the ring on the feeder. Neither seems inclined to chase the other away. Both of them look a little exasperated, but neither challenges and neither leaves.



Since the feeder seems peaceful enough, a Pine Siskin joins the party.




The Cardinal and the Purple Finch continue moving around the feeder and stuffing themselves.




This was the scene just before the snow. Bright sunshine and warm breezes. Mr. Cardinal likes this weather much better.

19 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

I like the photo where Cardinal and Purle Finch are on opposite sides, both looking away as if pretending the other wasn't even there.
"I can't see you."

Carol Murdock said...

Nice pictures as always Carolyn.
I can see both seed feeders from where I'm sitting and also both Hummingbird beeders I put up yesterday!I really enjoy watching their antics!

Cedar ... said...

Nice shots of the bird feeder and guests! I agree with Lynne, they look like they are pretending the other one doesn't exist! Funny!

CountryDreaming said...

An excellent study of bird behavior. Glad there was enough room for everyone around the feeder!

troutbirder said...

I really liked the "story action" of your pictures.

robin andrea said...

Lovely pictures. They make me miss our feeder and our yard in Washington. We had a feeder that looked very much like this one. It had a mechanism that closed off the food stations if something heavy (like a squirrel or a band-tailed pigeon) tried to hang on and feed. Love your cardinals and purple finch. The pine siskin is a cutie too.

Tina said...

I'm with Mr. Cardinal..love the sunshine and warm!! A nice little post on what looks like a cold snowy day!

Dog_geek said...

Glad to see you are back on-line! I hope this means that you are up and running again! Nice pictures!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Carolyn: Those are some neat photos of the scramble for seeds. That Purple Finch is so colorful.

Beth said...

These are beautiful photos. I always enjoy the scenes you photograph but these definitely made my day.

Cheryl said...

An entertaining post....how do you get your birds and dogs to play their parts so well? Please let me in to your secret....lol

Lovely photographs.....

KGMom said...

We have very bossy cardinals here, also. They do say--MY FEEDER.

Jayne said...

What beautiful photos Carolyn. I love seeing the contrast of the red with the raspberry purple!

laurie said...

those are stunning photos. you're good.

Melissa Weisbard said...

Great photos. The colors of the birds are so amazing.

Ruth said...

The second-last picture is excellent! I have only seen 2 Purple finches ever.

Kerri Farley said...

Beautiful! Very neat how the birds shared the feeder with each other!!

Anonymous said...

I always thought that cardinals, tanagers, jays, and finch belonged in a jungle somewhere. They are just so colorful

Valerie Cummings said...

Wow! That Cardinal is gorgeous! Hugs Joey and Kealani