Little Lost Cardinal

  I have a habit of watching the critters of the Bayou and surrounding woods.  It is one of the most enjoyable things that I have found to do. Critters do not cause drama in my little world so most of them seem to be far better friends than most humans.  Still, occasionally, you have to ponder if there is any compassion in the critter world.  It seems that it is all about survival and those not fit enough to compete are simply lost in the shuffle.  That old survival of the fittest idiom is sure evident around here.

  For the past few days, a baby cardinal could be heard calling for its mom.  The little squirt lingered a little to close to the cat for comfort yesterday causing me a bit of angst.  Even though our old cat rarely catches anything lately, she might take a hankering for a baby bird if the situation arises.  I watched each day to be sure that the old cat merely snoozed and did not stalk the bird.  Each day, the bird was getting stronger and soon had all of its adult feathers making me believe that it might just survive. The little rascal found the bird feeders and the bird bath so at least it was able to eat and drink.  At night, it was smart enough to wriggle its way far into the rose brambles for a bit of protection.

  Meanwhile, Mom Cardinal decided it was time for another family. Her abandoning the little tyke was essential as she had already started laying another nestful of eggs.  This will be her fourth nesting of the season. The first clutch of eggs was eaten by crows leaving the cardinal without any little ones to raise.  She tried again and had the nest raided by the owl.  Then she had our little lost one but immediately started nesting again.  She is one busy little mama!  

 This morning, the little cardinal seemed almost sure of itself as it made its way to the feeders.  There, it mingled with the doves and blackbirds and got its tummy filled with fine seeds. It does still have a little trouble cracking the outer shell of the sunflower seeds but that will come with time and practice. Neither the mom nor dad showed up to help the tyke. This one is fully on its own now.