Color and Song in the Morning

   Back a few years, I was tasked with the job of making up a scavenger hunt (sorta) where the object was to see different things and record them on a sheet and see how many of the items a person could find in a certain amount of time.

   This was to take place in an area of a park, so I scouted and marked a trail for them to follow through a small patch of woods, beginning and ending in a parking lot near the picnic area.

   I made my list as I walked the trail, but needed one final object that might separate the winner from the rest. As I neared the end of my loop trail, I caught a glimpse of a "redbird", actually a Northern Cardinal sitting in a bush. What were the chances of one of these birds being on that trail when my group came through in a few days? Not much, I decided, and put him down for my final item.

   On the day of the picnic, I turned these folks loose on the trail. Staying near the end of the course, I waited to see who might actually see one of these red birds and win the game.

   As they came in and turned in their sheets, I was amazed to find that they all had see a redbird, and it was duly checked off on everyone's paper. How could that be, I had only seen one in the whole time I was out there the other day?

   Then one of the group pointed out that the Cardinal was on the Virginia license plate of many of the cars in the parking area.

   So much for my hard thing to find.

   Most every morning, as I go out to walk, these birds are everywhere, and their songs fill the air. If I can't see them, I hear them. Even before sunup, when the light is just beginning, I see them and can distinguish that bright red color.

   Watching a pair this morning, a bright red male and a somewhat more subdued brownish and red female, a wondered about their lifestyle and habits, so I looked them up when I got back to the condo.

   My question was "do they mate for life, like some other winged fowls?"

   The answer on one website:

"There seems to be some evidence that Cardinals do indeed spend the entire year with the same partner. But saying that they mate for life gives us the impression that they spend decades of bliss together until they retire to some Cardinal condo in Ft. Lauderedale. The fact is, a Cardinal life expectancy isn't much longer than a year. So the cute Cardinal couple that has been coming to your feeder for years is probably many diffrent birds."

   I never knew that.

   Nature is filled with things and creatures that God has made. Nice that we can enjoy their color and singing. What a wonderful world.

   In Genesis, Chapter 1:

"God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” God created the great sea creatures and every living and moving thing with which the water swarmed, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good."

   And it Was