A rabbit was sitting under my little maple tree - until I stopped to take the photo......

seen in Fort Smith last Friday:

No snow here this morning. This pic from a couple years ago

I haven't seen the cardinals lately. I was seeing them regularly and definitely hearing them. That needs to change!

But my dear friend dropped in on Sunday. She had a gift for me.....a glass cardinal tree ornament!

I have a cardinal pie bird given to me by a friend.

-12 Arcy! That's cold!!!

I'm toying with the idea of hanging a bird feeder from my balcony. There's a large maple tree in front so there are birds, and of course squirrels.

What type of feeder would you recommend, one that's not too big and one that squirrels won't bother with (if there's such a thing!)

No cardinals in Colorado...but....sold my snow covered birdie....1981 4x4 truck yesterday. The listing was only out for 4 hours before my phone started ringing...and ringing....

Oh, I just remembered......my cardinal straws will fit in with today's theme.

No pictures of cardinals, but here's my dog nursing a raccoon.

No cardinals in California that I know of.

Our feeder is a cub scout project. Cardinals eat sunflower seeds so that is all we offer. The chickadees, sparrows and others all seem to be fine with that. I do not think there is a feeder squirrels won't bug if they can get to it. A cone or baffle keeps ours squirrel proof.

My cousin had a feeder with a little electric motor in it that would cause it to spin if something heavy enough pulled on it to trigger the switch -- like a squirrel. But the birds were too light and wouldn't trigger it. It would spin the squirrels right off.

Not a cardinal but a hummingbird during last February's snowfall. They are year round residents here.

I only feed the hummers. Too much other wildlife around here to savage the feeders :-)

Jasdip the straws with the cardinals on them are so cute. I used to use the metal straws. I have thrown them away! I chipped my front tooth with one. Apparently that happens a lot according to the dentist. I see now they have come out with the ones that have a rubber tube that slides over the end. I still don't trust them. It just barely touched the edge of my tooth but it was enough to chip out a little piece.

My mom loved cardinals so when I saw these cute little ceramic cardinals I bought them for her and left them at her grave two years ago. Two years later, they are still there. I thought someone would have stolen them by now, but no one touches them.

Raven, that's my fear with the metal straws!! I've broken too many teeth the past few years. Just a couple of months ago I split a tooth right in half to the root eating popcorn!!

I had a hard plastic straw that came with my lidded cup, but it was straight, and I kept hitting the roof of my mouth so I started buying plastic straws. Then when I was given these I feel like I should use them. They're noisy too, rattling around in my cup.

My whole package of plastic straws has a hole in the bend, I gurgle air when I use them. :-(

I have been cursed with the hole in the bend straws too lol. I hate it when I get one of those.

I have some of the big plastic ones that are bendable but they are hard to clean.