Good Thing...Small Package

It is said, good things come in small packages.

This is a small package.

The length of a candle.

The weight of a CD.

A shell crushing beak…

adults are orange, juveniles till first molt-black.

Seeds, especially sunflowers in winter and insects in summer,

call it omnivore.

State favorite in 7 of the 50 United.

Cardinalis cardinalis in Latin.

A Cardinal’s nest has four layers, beak crushed twigs, a leafy matt,

grapevine bark, and grass in layer four.

Precisely built in 3-9 days to hold 2 to 4 eggs.

Do good things come in small packages?

Yes…this one’s a Cardinal!

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This was a good day for photos! Sitting in a blind, in snow with mild air for the month of January, the last bird I expected to see was a Cardinal. First I see the female. What a delight to take her picture. Then I realize the male must be near…he was as the next photos show.

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I panned the camera to the left. There he was closer to me than his mate!

He posed …well it seemed as though he did. His crest of feathers shows well.

In this photo it is easy to see the large seed crusher the Cardinal has for a beak!

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When the male flew away, I thought my Cardinal photos were done. A glance beck to the branch where the female was showed she had moved to a branch directly in front of me. She may not have the red feathers of her mate, but there is no denying her symmetrical beauty.

God is always doing “good things.” Because God loves us, it pleases Him to do good things.

Let all that I am praise the Lord;

may I never forget the good things he does for me. Psalm 103:2