Mrs. Cardinal flares as she is about to land and join Mr. Cardinal for a bite of lunch during a recent snow storm. Our bird feeder, frequently replenished by Pat Dempsey, my spousal unit and roommate, was the most popular game in town.
cardinal on limb in snow storm
For the price of a pound or so of bird seed and the kinetic energy to deliver said seed to our bird feeder during a recent snow storm, we were witness to a bird feeding frenzy second to none. Cardinals who like our neighborhood were the main players. These “redbirds” were joined by sparrows and a woodpecker, plus some interloping blackbirds who were uninvited guests. Find out how this story started and see more bird pictures on the Photo of the Week page at Corndancer dot-com .Click here to go there.
After a few anxious moments of awkward glances and body, the cardinal and sparrow finally buried the hatchet and got on with lunch. Survival finally took precedence over ego.
Though the feathery critters joined some territorial spats, these disagreements seemed to be less frequent and intense than we observe under more favorable weather conditions. Perhaps swallowing one’s pride along with one’s food is more acceptable when the latter is scarcer.
Mr. Cardinal gives us the eye and quickly returned to the task at hand. Munching out.
See more bird pictures in our Weekly Grist Gallery
Even our friendly local Red Bellied Woodpecker made a showing. He is bigger than everyone else and nobody messes with him. We don’t see much of Mr. Woodpecker in the winter months so his visit was welcome. Despite his size, he was not overly aggressive and grabbed what he could. See him in our Weekly Grist Gallery.
Sometimes, a girl just needs a little time to herself. This female cardinal hopped on a limb close to the window for this shot. She is probably as regular at the feeder and has a lower fear threshold.
The feeding frenzy continued until dark when the birds went wherever they go to roost. They returned the next day and started where they left off. The storm was long gone and eastern sun back-lighted the scene which eliminated the shooting opportunity of the day before. So, a cold, overcast, stormy day was preferable. You take what you get.
See more bird pictures
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE
Birds that is!
See more birds including our friendly local woodpecker. There are 19 high resolution pictures of this feeding frenzy in our Weekly Grist Gallery. These are our “keepers” that we did not publish in Weekly Grist or Corndancer, plus those we did. Click here and see these cool pictures.
Thanks for dropping by,
Joe Dempsey
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind
http://www.joedempseycommunications.com/
http://www.joedempseyphoto.com/
http://www.corndancer.com/joephoto/photohome.html
Filed under: Behind the Scenes, but wait, there's more | Tagged: Bird, Bird feeder, bird feeder in snow, Bird feeding, birds in snow, cardinal, cardinal in snow, Chordata, February, Food, male cardinal, male cardinal in snow, Recreation, Red Bellied Woodpecker, redbird, snow, snow in arkansas, snow storm, sparrow in snow, United States, winter, winter in arkansas |
Weekly Grist for the Eyes and Mind 
There’s something about the red with the snow background that brings forth joy in the midst of lousy weather. Well done on the straight on pic.
Good news at our house is that we don’t have blackbird issues. Mission accomplished by using only black oil sunflower seeds in one feeder & thistle in the other. “Mix” seeds seem to attract them, and as you know, they find it.
“Mix” seeds seem to attract them,
Frank, in the words of Johnny Carson, “I did not know that.” Thanks for adding to my body of knowledge,
Joe
[…] Click here to see the original February 13, 2011 Weekly Grist post. Also see the original Corndancer Photo of the Week picture and story. Cool places to click. This friendly little fellow joined me when I was shooting the barn you see below. The learning curve from his initial and natural caution was shortened when I offered him a few month-old Cheetos I salvaged from the back floorboard of my truck. Click on the barn to see more pix at Corndancer dot-com […]
[…] a break occasionally and thaw out only to return for another session. It was downright addictive. Click here to see our original February 2011 post. Also be sure and see our new, improved Corndancer Photo of […]