Cardinal

November snowfall

Red alert! (in the backyard)

– feathered perfection. 

Notes: I am so grateful that we have many northern cardinals* that inhabit our backyard year-round, and after a snowfall (the first of which we had last week), their brilliant red plumage stands out perfectly against the white backdrop. The contrast is so incredible. They are really quite interesting birds, and I am forever astounded by the volume that the males have when they sit atop a tree singing their hearts out – their vocalizations seem to carry across many, many blocks (you can find examples of their vocalizations here). Sometimes (early in the morning, in the spring) it seems as if they are sitting right outside the bedroom window, blasting straight into our brains at sunrise. They can be kind of piggy at the bird feeders, but I just don’t mind since I think they are so beautiful and my world is better because northern cardinals are part of it.

* my sloppy/messy watercolour is low on accuracy, but if I close my eyes, I imagine cardinals more like my depiction, above. Lots of wild colour kind of all over the place.

© Christopher M Buddle 2022