For a larger version of the image (and slightly better view of the cardinal), click here. Reggie usually ignores birds, but this time he charged. The cardinal wasn't too scared, he jumped the fence and showed us his superior profile.
For all his bravery at simply clearing the fence, Reggie lost interest and set off to tour his kingdom yard. Since Reggie had moved on, the cardinal took to being a daddy and came back into my yard and feed one of his babes up in the tree.
Mommy figured her work was finished and watched from the fence. No word on the other babies. (Click for larger views at Flickr.)
I sure wish I had a camera with a better zoom.
I'll periodically see an adult Cardinal or two -- I don't know that I've ever noticed a female -- but I've never seen a baby being cared for by a parent.
Nice photos. I wish my camera had a better zoom too
Posted by: delmer | May 13, 2009 at 11:07 AM
We seem to have one or two male cardinals in every spring, but not so much the rest of the year. This year I seem to be seeing the "daddy" a lot. I've never seen them with the babies before...but maybe I just didn't know what they looked like. I wouldn't have recognized the female until my mother pointed one out a couple of years ago.
Posted by: Missy | May 13, 2009 at 11:51 PM