Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

There was a dead female cardinal laying near my car.  I could not tell how it died by looking at it but I felt sorry for it.  Usually when you see a cardinal its mate is somewhere nearby.  Cardinals mate for life and somewhere was a male cardinal who must have been mourning its death.  I hope it is able to find a new mate.

Tags: birds, cardinals, cardinals mate for life, death, female cardinal, God, male cardinal
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Every time I pass a river or creek I want to look upstream or downstream. I don’t know always know why. On certain bridges, I hope to spot a great egret or a snowy egret, a considerably smaller bird, although both are completely white.

It always has something to do with the unknown. I never know exactly what to expect. Even when the river is parallel to the road I still try to peer between the rapidly passing trees to see what I could see.

Every body of water fascinates me from no matter from what vantage point I view it–car, train, whatever. I have been this way as long as I remember.

I keep my eyes peeled for any ducks or other kind of birds that I pass always wanting to identify them. I was amazed that one of two visiting friends (from NYC) could not identify a bird as common as a male cardinal. I guess you do not see many birds in the middle of the city.

I have always made it my business to name the birds I see. And if I see one I don’t recognize, I try to remember some distinct feature of it so I can consult my bird book and properly identify it.

I always pay attention to the birds around me. I grew up in the city but my Mom had a garden with all kinds of things in it including tomatoes and all kind of flowers, an apricot tree and even a fig tree. And that is, of course, an incomplete list.

On weekends my Dad often took us to the mountains and seashore and lakes. I owe both of my parents a great debt for introducing me to nature. I grew to love birds and took care studying them and loved to identify them–even from a speeding car. I learned to respect nature and the wild.

Tags: apricot tree, bird book, bird-watching, birds, body of water, creek, ducks, fig tree, flowers, garden, great egret, identify birds, introducing me to nature, lakes, male cardinal, mountains, my Dad, my Mom, my parents, nature, NYC, river, seashore, snowy egret, studying birds, tomatoes
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The brightly red colored cardinal (the male of course) still takes my breath away.  Every time.  It is one of the most beautiful song birds I have ever seen.  I was amazed when my friends could not identify it when it crossed the road right in front of us.  (They live in NYC.)  I also love hearing it sing.  It is still one of my favorite song birds.  And still relatively common.

When I see the bird feed on the ground there are generally two at one time–his drably colored female is usually with him.  They mate for life.  As a rule they are somewhat cautious and flush easily.  It is always a treat for me to see the male.

Tags: bird feeding, bird singing, bird-watching, birds, cardinals mate for life, female cardinal, male cardinal, NYC, red cardinal, song birds
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