To make up for yesterday’s post with the Northern Cardinal remains here’s a lousy picture of a live cardinal enjoying the preshelled sunflower seeds on my balcony:

male Northern Cardinal through a screen and a glass door

Only four species have ever taken advantage of food on my balcony: cardinals, House Sparrows, European Starlings and a single Rock Pigeon.  Sometimes being on the top floor isn’t too cool.

Mostly I put the seeds out to entertain the two cats who think I am their pet.  B.B. just likes to watch the birds while Hunter, aptly named (though he was named after Hunter S. Thompson), stalks them.  At least he finally learned that no matter how hard he tries he will never be able to pounce his way through the door!

Here he is mesmerized by Watching Warblers on DVD:

Hunter watching a Yellow-breasted Chat.

Different songs and images make him react differently.  He is particularly fond of the Common Yellowthroat for some reason.

Finally, my friend Mike has been in Germany since last fall and is getting married to a wonderful German woman named Annalena in October.  I’ll be going to the wedding so if anyone out there on the internets wants to give advice on birding spots in Berlin please let me know.  I’m bringing this up because I got a package in the mail from Mike today that made my day.  It was wrapped in this paper:

How cool is this?

Thanks Mike!  And am I easy to please or what?

As I finish typing this up (it’s dusk) I can hear my parking-lot rooster crowing.  I don’t need to go birding, the birds are coming to me!