Nice link, Kat. I will say that though normally I see them going through on migration, I HAVE seen the occasional nesting pair over near Merritt Island. I suspect that is about the extreme southern tip of the breeding range. Mostly they breed from northern Florida through to central North Carolina. With them wintering in south Florida, it means that you COULD actually see them in most of the state at various times, either migrating north or south, wintering in South Florida, or nesting in the spring in north Florida. As I say, mine were at my feeder during March/April. I would guess that they were heading back north from southern Florida in order to nest. Marcia

I have wondered if not enough or not having the right kind of trees is my problem in getting cardinals to come. I only have evergreens in front yard and those are not the huge kind. I have NO large trees in back yard where I want cardinals....we have lost several due to the soil problem...at least I assume that is the problem. Now we have built my craft cottage (12 X 20 plus front porch) so with the small garden shed and DH's work shop as well as leaving space to park an almost 36 foot 5th wheel we don't have lots of room inside the back fence left for large trees......lol. What to do? The cardinals are around Dawn...at the lake they are abundant. But there are cedar trees everywhere. I always take bird seed when we go to the lake. The cardinals love the black sunflower sees and will eat them any way I serve them....on the ground, patio, grill, feeder, you name it...lol. One was particularly bold last time we were out and he would just come right up to me for me to drop seed on the patio for him. I think he might have gotten bold enough to eat from my hand. I have had them at other places I have lived but this area is not an old area and the trees are not huge yet and not lots of them either. I think the lack of evergreens or fruit bearing trees may be the problem with them but that is just a guess. I do have thick hedge of photinias which are large in my back yard but I need some kind of larger tree...I will have to find where I can plant one....I wish me luck...lol. I am so tired of sparrows....we are way over populated with them and the last few days they come by what seems to be hundreds and are all making racket in the tree next door. I don't recall them ever doing this before and have wondered what is up. Well I will just have to read up on it and find what I can manage do to try to attract them...I just love cardinals and really want to find a way to have them here. We got more rain last night. I am getting so discouraged with our boggy yard. We need to go pick up our new 5th wheel and take ours to trade it in but it HAS to dry up before we can get it out. As soon as we see it has dried we will have to get ours out of the yard while we can. What a problem this is for us right now. I worked all day yesterday packing up everything in the trailer and storing it in my craft cottage....you should see the trails I made in the yard going back and forth...and what a hassle taking off shoes and putting them on each time I went in and out of our trailer to keep from messing it up! I am SICK AND TIRED OF RAIN. I hope it doesn't rain any more for the rest of summer! Looking at the weather forecasts are just plain depressing. I shall stop watching them...they never get it right anyway. They should say "plan for it to rain every day" and be done with it. UGH! Ya'll have a great and DRY day. G.M.

Thank you! I suppose one is a photographer if one takes photos, but I've not bought any professional cameras or sold anything. Since DuBois bought me Canon Powershot S2 IS 12 X zoom and Olympus SP-550 18 X zoom point-and-shoot cameras I've taken photos but was disappointed in the picture quality, so Gail suggested I buy a DSLR. DuBois' mom sent Christmas money in 2007, so I did research and bought a Canon EOS 40-D camera and Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L lens in Jan. 2008. It's taken a long time to get the hang of it, and even now, most of the photos have to be deleted-I'll typically take 300 photos and keep 13. At first I used tripods, but now just handhold or brace my arm against my knee. I still have to get VERY close for the photos to look like anything, so it's mostly about knowing the bird calls, habitat, habits, and trying to gain an advantage with height, lighting, etc I try to get close enough to use the auto-focus, but it only works well in strong light, with no surrounding branches. To compensate for my eyesight, I usually twist the manual focus back and forth as I shoot rapidly, in hopes that something will be in focus

Thanks Pagan and Martin! Think I mentioned in that earlier post, I bought Star of Luck and Noble Concubine seeds but I have no clue as to which seeds this could be from and it is 8 yrs ago! It will be interesting to see what the other flowers look like on the second one that's in bud. It's progressing nicely btw. The others both have very different leaves to this one...these are long and thin, almost rubbery and with a pinkish underside while the other two have shorter more rounded leaves which are a vibrant green. Regarding the flowers, maybe as the plant matures the flowers will change somewhat as I know this happens with Plumerias which I have grown, and I think Adeniums too? Anyway, it may be small, single, and pink, but it's a flower :))))) Gill UK