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Thursday, June 24, 2021

Cardinal meets the enemy and he is...

While observing the local Bald Eagles, nest watchers parked their cars in a grassy area adjacent to a woodland where Northern Cardinals maintained nesting territories. Often, even before the drivers completed parking and exited from their vehicles, a cardinal would attack a side mirror.

This behavior continued through the winter and up to the present.

January 18, 2021:

February 6, 2021. The scary image on the truck's mirror  did not dissuade this warrior:

On June 16, a male cardinal watched me as I walked away from the car:

His mate flew in to watch the battle:


A double reflection. His rivals have multiplied!

No amount of effort intimidated the enemy (* See note):


On the home front, the Mangos were ripening and we picked as many as we could reach, giving most of them away to neighbors. Those higher in the tree ripened on the tree and later fell to the ground, where we competed with the birds, squirrels and iguanas. Out early, we collected dozens more, ready to eat. We brought bags of them to church and neighbors who shared in our largesse:

A Green Iguana got to some Mangos before we did:

A Muscovy Duck mom brought her 9 ducklings to the feast. When she saw me she rushed to the edge of the lake with seven ducklings. Two were left behind as they were still eating the fallen Mangos:



Two drakes joined them. They had been competing for her attention and often try to mate with a hen even if she is tending to her young:

She gathered her ducklings together and then ran up to fetch the other two. All nine ducklings then rested together on our lawn. Some fell fast asleep:




I did not get out much this past week, but a visit to Chapel Trail Nature Preserve in nearby Pembroke Pines yielded sightings of four Great Egrets, a species which has been absent from our local wetlands for more than two weeks:


Overhead, an immature Red-shouldered Hawk screamed continuously:


Several recent downpours have increased water levels:

Rain was again threatening:

Swamp Lilies were flourishing:

In a dry patch, I found a pretty yellow flower with distinctive leaves, but am not sure of its identity and whether it is wild or an invasive alien:

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* REF: "We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo in Walt Kelly cartoon

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Linking to:



Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Natasha Musing

Our World Tuesday

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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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31 comments:

  1. That first sequence of photos and the text about the cardinals attacking car mirrors was a first for me, Kenneth, and interesting to learn. Then, there were the photos of those baby ducklings and the lizard enjoying the mango which were equally amazing to see. The wing patterns on the red tailed hawk are always so impressive.
    BTW belated happy wedding anniversary to you and your wife as I read your comment on Stevenson Qs post that you recently marked this special day 🥂

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  2. Why do birds fight with their reflections in side view mirrors???Years ago we had a carport and that cars right sided mirror really took a beating..SO long ago ...I can't remember what kind of bird it was..Robin or a Cardinal probably..Has to do with mating season??
    Wonderful Hawk photos..Was something near its nest??
    Love the little ducklings..so soft and fuzzy..I miss my little pond that was taken over every year by a pair of Mallards..Lots of clutches every year ...The minute they were hatched, they went in to my pond and then followed their Mom down through the wetlands to the big pond where at least half of them were pulled under by the turtles..Sad..That was a strenuous beginning to a short life..I watched them for seven years..Sadly the people hat bought my house made a patio out of my pond..ENjoy your day..

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  3. That Cardinal is amazing!! The colour! I'm visiting from #DND but for some reason I can't comment on the hosts blog. I'm hoping she see this here to understand why I appear to be so rude! Feel terrible!

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    1. Lydia, I had the same problem on DND-- the comment box would not accept text. Elke suggested to try a different browser. I had been using Chrome and my switch to Edge solved the issue.

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    2. Thanks for the tip - and back for #Allseasons

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  4. It was interesting to see the cardinal reaction to his mirror image He was obviously jealous of what he thought was a rival.
    The iguana looks so prehistoric. The duckling so sweet. The red tailed hawks in flight are wonderful photos!

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  5. Great pictures! We had a cardinal family nesting in a bush near our house. Whenever I went out, the male would fly away in a different direction to distract me. But they sure like my feeders.

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  6. Hi Kenneth, beautiful photos.I like the cardinal, we don't see them here. Greetings Caroline

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  7. Hi Kenneth. I had a Great Egret in my front yard last week! I live nowhere near water, and in 30 years of living here I've never seen one. Turns out he was catching and eating lizards!

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  8. Hello Ken,
    The Cardinals and mirror series is funny, those silly birds. It is nice to be able to run outside to pick the mangos, they are delicious. Pretty Egret! The ducklings are so cute, adorable photos. I love the view of the boardwalk and sky. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend! PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.

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  9. Exquisite pictures, so many favorites! Yes, the enemy is within :).

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  10. Hi Kenneth :) Those ducklings are just adorable. How neat that you have a mango tree! I LOVED the story of the cardinal, made me smile!!!

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  11. Those Muscovy ducks are a lot cuter when they are young, aren't they! And how nice to have ripe mangoes! Love the funny Cardinal behavior too. We've had them hit into the window over and over again. He could give themselves a concussion, but we scared him off!

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  12. Wonderful photos. There's a cardinal who attacks my car. I cover the mirror with a thing that looks like an oven mitt, but sometimes he attacks the windows.

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  13. You've created a great array of nature at its finest for us today. Love the ducklings closeup images, the lilies, egret, and wetlands. Even enjoyed the battle of the mirror!!
    Enjoy the day and thank you for taking time to share this with us birders!!

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  14. Wow these are magnificent photos.

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  15. Nice shots! I especially like the cardinal pictures.

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  16. I love all of the birds photos but that Iguana took my breath away, its stunning.Thanks for sharing with Garden Affair.

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  17. Lovely captures, especially the little ducks, but the other birds too. I enjoyed reading.

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  18. Great series of images! I've seen a cardinal carry on with a car mirror - it's rather fun to watch!
    Thanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2021/06/arty-sea-world.html

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  19. Love the cardinals on the side mirror - beautiful!

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  20. The ducklings are very cute. I am surprised mother duck realised two were missing. As it wasn't my car that was being attacked by the cardinals I enjoyed those photos especially.

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  21. What a great set of photos, the cardinals are so funny and they have obviously got hooked on the the idea as well that there are other birds in the mirrors. Love the birds of prey but my favourite is the Green Iguana, what a handsome beast. Wish we had some of those mangoes here, one thing I sadly miss since moving from Africa. Hope all is well, Diane

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  22. That's a great series of photographs with the cardinal!

    Looks like a bit of rain has made your wetlands "wet" again! Same in our area.

    I had fresh mango for breakfast, but seeing your haul makes me want another one!

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  23. We had a song sparrow or whatever type of sparrow it was, do that one year to our car mirror in our driveway. We finally had to put a paper bag over the mirror to stop it. Eventually his singing stopped when we found his feathers in the driveway, most likely a victim of a neighborhood cat. It was a very sad day when the singing stopped. Iguanas and baby ducks - What nice sightings in your own yard.

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  24. A fantastic variety of birds! The cardinals are so bright and beautiful. We have alpine parrots that will strip the rubber from your car if they get a chance :)

    Your link this week at 'My Corner of the World' is appreciated!

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  25. The cardinals are so very endearing. And that's one delicious harvest of mangoes. No wonder the Iguana is having a field day. How lovely to be sharing it with one and all, Ken.

    I remember once watching a babbler having a fun time flapping around a car mirror.

    Have a wonderful week ahead and thank you for this fabulous post on #WW

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  26. Hi Ken, a wonderful post as always. Loved the birds and the cardinal series. Yummy mangoes and the iguana click is awesome. The ducklings exude so much warmth. All in all loved this walk through nature.

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