Our Kamikaze Cardinal
I get most of my work done during the kids afternoon nap - in fact that's the quietest time of day around here. They think bedtime at night means "wrestle around on the floor for an hour", but they usually settle in for naptime without much trouble. I always have a mile long lists of things to do during naptime so I'm usually sitting quietly at my desk, focused on my computer. Well a few months ago I was startled out of my seat by a loud popping sound at the window about 15 feet behind me.
I went to inspect but couldn't figure out what had made the noise so I got back to work. Darned if it didn't happen again! Every time I'd get back to work, I'd hear a loud crack against the window, but there was never anything there when I went to look.
Finally, feeling like a fool even though no one was around to see, I crouched behind a bookshelf at the doorway to the room and just watched for it to happen again. I couldn't believe it when I finally figured out what was going on - a gorgeous red cardinal was slamming itself into the window over and over. I could see a more brownish female cardinal in a tree not too far from the window, and my guess is that the male was probably seeing his own reflection in the window and thought he was scaring off the competition.
Unfortunately, I think the poor guy has sustained some brain damage because he comes back at least 2-3 times a week now to torture me during my "quiet baby time". He hits the window with such force that he's actually fallen to the ground in a daze more than once, only to come back time and again to protect his woman. Well you certainly can't question his devotion!
I've been on a mission for the last couple of months to get some pictures of him in action, but he never appears when the kids are awake (maybe the noise level?
) or when the cats are in the room, and if he sees me moving then he quickly disappears. I was finally able to get a few shots - these are taken through the window and the screen so they're not the greatest, but I'm proud I was able to get some pix of my kamikaze friend.
I went to inspect but couldn't figure out what had made the noise so I got back to work. Darned if it didn't happen again! Every time I'd get back to work, I'd hear a loud crack against the window, but there was never anything there when I went to look.
Finally, feeling like a fool even though no one was around to see, I crouched behind a bookshelf at the doorway to the room and just watched for it to happen again. I couldn't believe it when I finally figured out what was going on - a gorgeous red cardinal was slamming itself into the window over and over. I could see a more brownish female cardinal in a tree not too far from the window, and my guess is that the male was probably seeing his own reflection in the window and thought he was scaring off the competition.
Unfortunately, I think the poor guy has sustained some brain damage because he comes back at least 2-3 times a week now to torture me during my "quiet baby time". He hits the window with such force that he's actually fallen to the ground in a daze more than once, only to come back time and again to protect his woman. Well you certainly can't question his devotion!
I've been on a mission for the last couple of months to get some pictures of him in action, but he never appears when the kids are awake (maybe the noise level?
) or when the cats are in the room, and if he sees me moving then he quickly disappears. I was finally able to get a few shots - these are taken through the window and the screen so they're not the greatest, but I'm proud I was able to get some pix of my kamikaze friend. 
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