The Male Northern Cardinal Roosting At My Backdoor


 As I looked out the backdoor under the awning I saw in the late evening light perched in the corner of the awning a beautiful Northern Cardinal.  His feathers were perfect and tucked close to his body.


My grand-daughter, Laney, was the first one to actually see it.  She had switched on the back porch light and she hollered out, “Mimi…Pepe…have you seen this red Cardinal?”  We answered her with “No.  We have never seen it there before.” In fact, we couldn’t tell if it was there by choice or if he was trapped, because even though we were very close to him, he didn’t fly away!  As we looked at him, he looked at us, but he didn’t move.  


So we turned off the light and left him alone.  The next morning when I rose at 4:30 am, I turned on the light to see if our little visitor was still there and guess what!? He was still there!  So every so often, that morning, I would go to the backdoor and peek out to check on him.  He stayed until the morning began to come alive….5:30 - still there.  But, when I looked out at 5:45, he was gone.


When I found he had flown away, I knew that he hadn’t been hung up on the awning, but was there for the night to sleep.  Was this a regular thing or just a one night sleep-over?  


That night as we finished washing up the dishes, we switched on the porch light and there he was in his same little spot!  How long has he been spending the night at our house? Days, weeks, months…perhaps even a year!? 


It has now been almost a week of coming to the awning at dark and leaving slightly before dawn.    


I’ve taken a photo of him perched…a little embarrassed by the winter dirt on the awning, but since I don’t know how long he will stay, I decided to share.

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