The Northern Cardinal

It has happened, a long migration east.  I know it's been a long time since I've posted and that has a lot to do with the fact I now live on the east coast, am planning a wedding and had to find a job, well it turned out I had to find two.  Fortunately those jobs involve being outside and teaching people about nature.  And of course I talk about birds whenever I can.  What's exciting about this move is, besides the new adventures of living on a side of the country I have never lived on before, are the number of new birds I'll get to see! 

Male Northern Cardinal, photo by Kelly Wohlwend

Male cardinal, photo by Kelly Wohlwend

Before I even moved here and before I even knew I was going to move here I thought about seeing one bird in particular.  It may seem strange because for so many on the east coast this is such a common bird that the flash of bright, shocking red has become a flash of dull, unexciting red.  To some, this bird may still surprise people and I know a lot of people who still stare at them whenever they come into view but for others, it may get overlooked.  I know this has happened to me living on the west coast.  I'll say, oh that's just another Steller's Jay, but to people who haven't seen them, they are rather striking birds.  They may not poses that brilliant red body of feathers but they're still beautiful.

I was lucky enough to get this picture of a Northern Cardinal when, having lived here for a few months, I had yet to see one except for a flutter of red out of the corner of my eye.  I did see a female but I wasn't able to take a decent photo through the brush.  I've also dreamed of taking an amazing picture of a cardinal in snow, but alas, it has hardly snowed over here and I live in an apartment, which makes it all the more difficult. 

Cardinals are predominately seed eaters, which makes them rather easy to lure to a backyard feeder, which I hope to have one day.  The cardinals I have seen have traveled in pairs, a male and a female, so it won't be too long before I have more cardinal pictures to share.  As for now, this will have to do.  I am happy to say I have gone birding a few times with my camera in hand so I do have some material for a few blog posts, including a few locations to go birding in Delaware.  I plan to explore this area more, as there are so many places to discuss birds that may seem ordinary, but for me, they're brand, spanking new!