Nature Study in the Ghetto: Cardinals

We found them! Yes we did! We found our Cardinal babies. This spring we were ecstatic when our Cardinal pair came back to us. Last year they had a rather disagreeable incident with our Charlie and left. Watching them in the backyard we have been saying for weeks that they must have a nest around here. Every once in a while we wondered if there might be eggs. And through our keen observational skills, our vast knowledge of nature and animal behavior we found it. It went something like this:
Mom "Geez. Those Cardinals are really going nuts." (long pause) "Hey! Charlie's over there in the bushes by that corner!"
JMan "The nest!"
And the hunt began. Once JMan spied the nest we grabbed the ladder and started climbing. It was perilous but worth it.
Those three little heads in there are older and bigger than the ones from last year. We are hoping Charlie will behave herself this year. That little accident she had (involving a car driven by two angry cardinals?) might have been just the experience she needed to leave those poor birdies alone. Well, we'll see.

Tonight we also found this little beauty sitting right on our patio. As if it was dropped there. According to my incredibly reliable sources (google searches) this does not appear to be a Cardinal egg. So does it look like evidence of hatching or homicide? We'll let you be the jury.

Further incriminating evidence (as if it was needed):









We also found this little treasure chucked over our back fence. Just proof that we do, in fact, live in the ghetto.

And another reason I don't blog as often as I think about it is because it takes FOREVER to load these photos!