I backed up the driveway today, and opened the door to unload the groceries.
In front of me was a tableau of bird behavior that was fascinating...not just because it was happening, but because I could recognize the players.
We have Pink Spot, who is a male Northern Cardinal who I've watched for two years. He has a small leucistic spot on his right wing that makes him distinctive. We also have Orange, who is a newcomer here, and low and behold, he's orange.
PINK:
"The ladies dig this freaky little spot I got. Chicka chicka wow wow....."
And ORANGE:
"I'm horny and no one likes me because I'm different."
So there was a bit of male fluffery going on. In between these two very different males, there was a female.
A normal female cardinal who had a choice to make. Or maybe she didn't. The reddest fellow seemed to have the upper hand. I will be very interested to see if Orange gets a mate this year. He is NOT a typical, bright red, healthy-looking cardinal, and with many bird species, that matters if you are going to get any nookie.
Orange got close to her....
...but after a few swipes from Pink, Orange had to back off.
And Orange was gradually scooted off the driveway.
...and up into the mulberry tree, where his very posture showed how much he really wanted that female:
Meanwhile, a lone turkey vulture zoomed down so low I could hear the creak if its wings:
The Lord God Almighty Mockingbird even pushed Orange around and then sat on the cheery tree and glared at me:
Oh. And then a stray dog showed up.
A cute little chi-chi mix, who was confident enough to eat the food I put out, but was too skittish to let me look at his collar.
Hooper was watching the whole affair and starting yodeling at the top of his lungs:
Eventually, the stray bolted into another yard, Hooper shut up, the turkey vulture moved onto another thermal, the chip-chip-chip of the cardinals faded. All this was only five minutes of my day, but it was a good five minutes.
