When The First Cardinal Arrives…

It is a gift that almost defies description, the moment the first bird arrives at the feeders. This morning, much to my surprise and delight, a very large, vivid red male cardinal was at one of the big blue feeders. (There are 2, the one he was at, the only one you can see in this picture, is in the left window above. Sadly, when I tried, slowly and carefully, to creep over and take his picture, he flew off, but he was there! He was THERE!)

In the last post I talked about how delighted I was that my dear helper Nick had helped me get the feeders up Saturday night. There are 4 of them. The other big blue feeder like the one my cardinal friend visited this morning is to the right of the windows. There is also, if you look close, a smaller feeder up in the top of the left window. It was once bright red but has faded over the years. Thankfully it is as sturdy and in as good a shape as new despite the fact that I have used these feeders for many years.

My property is heavily wooded and a great many birds come to my feeders, but when you first put them up again, after they have been gone for awhile, it can take time for the birds to find them. Due to hurricane damage after September 2018’s Hurricane Florence when a tree fell on my deck and it was not safe to go out on, I could not put feeders up last year. The year before, the first year I had had the heart to put the feeders up again since the house burned down in 2014, it took a week for the first bird to arrive. I wasn’t sure how long it would take to see a bird at the feeders but I knew they would come in their own good time.

Yesterday was a very dark, rainy day. At noon it was as dark as night. No birds appeared, nor did I expect them, even though, when the sun came out in the afternoon, I watched the feeders like an expectant child at Christmas. None came. I had a hard night last night and woke up very early, so anxious I finally had to take a pill and went back to sleep for a few hours. I got up and moved through the rounds of my morning chores, taking Molly out, feeding her, uncovering the birds and getting them started on their day, and feeding my two new little gentlemen, beta fish Oliver and Benjamin. After making my coffee I came, quietly and still not quite right in myself, to my desk, but as I started to sit down there was a flash of red out of the corner of my eye. I looked startled and amazed at the feeders and there he was, one of the biggest cardinals I have ever seen.

Cardinals are our state bird here in North Carolina and they are stunning. To see one up close as I do just the other side of my studio windows is positively awe-inspiring. I have always had a special fondness for the little ones, I have a great love for the tiny chickadees, the nuthatches, rosy finches and other small birds. The loud, raucousy blue jays make me laugh, I am deeply moved by the site of a downy woodpecker, and I am simply awestruck by the site of a pileated woodpecker (The ones that look like Woody Woodpecker!), but no bird is as stunning as the scarlet red cardinal and my woods are full of them. I watch, as the season progresses, the stunning males, their shy, creamy brown mates, and in the spring the darling juveniles as they all come to feed, and they fill me with delight. But today one cardinal arrived, and my heart opened up, and everything felt alright again. His arrival was a blessing on the day.

Once the first bird finds the feeders more follow and soon there will be a constant coming and going of all kinds of birds. What you see at the top of this post are the windows that look out onto my deck which I look out of all day long, and when the birds are here I spend long periods of time just watching them.

Today the first cardinal came. Holy Hallelujah. This blessing has changed everything. All will be well…


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Comments

  1. Paula Brown says

    I love my birds too. They are pretty scarce and there haven’t been many. I did not put feeders out the last couple years. I certainly will in the spring and I have 2 new wren houses we bought on vacation in Kentucky last summer. I can also spend hours watching the squirrels. We are kindred spirits

    • Ah Paula honey, you need to put your feeders out now! And keep a bowl or some kind of receptable nearby with water for them. By spring there are all manner of insects and other things they can eat but when the ground freezes food is far harder for the little ones to come by. I really urge you to get the feeders out now. And I keep two big kitchen pots, put out one at a time, for water. This time of year we wake up in the morning to frozen water, or will soon. Then I bring that pot in to thaw and wash and put a fresh pot of water out. The birds need us now. I hope you will not wait until spring to put your feeders out!

  2. How lovely! A beautiful feathered visitor, with many more visitors to come. Our bird table is right outside our front window, it’s such a joy to watch the birds come and go. The nuthatches take their sunflower seeds away with them to hide in their winter stash. We’ve been breaking the ice on the birds’ water dish and putting out fresh water each morning, it has been so cold for the past few days. Your finished painting of Maisie in her Secret Garden is amazing! I’m glad it all turned out well. Much love to you and Molly. xxx

    • Ah Jenny how good it is to see you. And oh, isn’t watching the wild birds in winter, providing for them, one of the deepest delights? It surely is for me. And I adore the little nuthatches!

      Thank you so much for your kind words about Maisie’s Secret Garden. It was quite a journey, and now I am on to her Christmas picture. I can’t believe Maisie has been with me nearly a year now, and Molly will celebrate her 1 year anniversary with me January 8 (Maisie came in February). I can’t believe it’s been year!

      I hope all is well with you honey, and I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. Blessings and love to you and yours, always…

  3. katya taylor says

    red cardinal comes
    bringing joy to the watcher
    each feeds the other

    !!!

    have to clean out our feeder and get new seeds. last year they didn’t like the food, for reasons unknown. i will try again. getting very cold tonight.

    so happy the messenger arrived to let you know all will be well. and it is.

    • What a lovely poem Ka…

      Hmm, I’m curious what kind of food you offered? I get decent food, not cheap, you don’t want all millet and corn, they won’t eat that, but Nick just picked up a 40 pound bag of a nice mix from Lowes hardware for a little over $16 by the Audobon Society. I usually, in the last years, get a 40# bag of nice mixed seed at Costco for about the same price. I can’t afford pricey food but it doesn’t pay to get something that isn’t a good mix with lots of sunflower seeds because they just won’t eat it.

      And yes, it brought such joy to my heart to see him there. He was a Messenger, and I am deeply grateful. I can’t wait to see who comes next, and then to see them all, coming and going. On my hard days just watching the birds with Molly in my lap is such a joyous thing…

  4. sue spiers says

    The birds bring so much joy into my life, as someone who is also housebound, they entertain me for hours. I also have a couple of regular squirrel visitors.

    I am thrilled for you Maitri, the red cardinal must be a magnificent sight to behold. I am in the UK so different birds here,but still many with glorious colours.
    Blessings and much love, Sue 🙏❤🐕

    • Oh Sue, yes, I so know what you mean. I rarely leave my house except to take Molly out in the back yard to the potty or to get the mail. To sit here in my studio and watch the birds at the feeders just outside my windows is a tremendous joy. And oh, I’d love to know what kind of birds you see in the UK. Amazing the countless types of birds there are worldwide. I am always completely in awe, having lived with parrots as “pets” in my life, that the birds that people have in cages in their homes here fly free in Australia and they feed them like wild birds, like cockatoos and so many others. It is my animal companions that fill my heart and home with the love that I need to keep going every day, and the birds coming back to the feeders will be a tremendous gift…. <3

  5. sue spiers says

    Dear Maitri,
    I see goldfinches( one of my favourite) , blue tits, coal tits, long tailed tits, the wren, Robin, wood pigeons, collared dive, bullfinch, sparrow, dunnock, woodpecker( not too often unfortunately), blackbirds, mistle thrush, crows, the sparrowhawk ( which although magnificent, upsets me because he is coming to feed on one if the birds and although its nature, I can’t bear the thought)
    Canada geese which I love, their call stirs my soul, and then I see 2 squirrels too.
    Blessings and love 🙏❤🐕❤

    • Ah dear Sue, what treasures they all are…

      My birds are slow to come to the feeders, they have only just gone up less than a week ago, but the cardinal was back today which made my heart lift, and soon there will be others. It is such a gift to share our bounty with the wild ones, a deep blessing indeed. Enjoy the wildlings that come to visit you, as I will mine. Let us never forget what a blessing they are.

      I am sending you so much love and a gentle warm hug. Thank you so much for being here with me. It means more than you could possibly know….

      Maitri

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