A different kind of Cardinal

We have the normal Red Cardinals here in Arizona but there is another Cardinal here. Their song is exactly (to me anyway) as a red cardinal. I looked out my window this morning and saw this pretty bird in the tree. Not the best shot because of the twig in front of his eye but you get the idea.

The name for this bird is Pyrrhuloxia (I have no idea how to pronounce that one) but a common name is also Silver Cardinal. Both the female and the males look alike, sort of silver grey with patches of red, unlike the Red Cardinals where the male is bright red and the female is a dull sort of olive brown color.

They are already singing in the mornings as the days are starting to get longer and the sun is definitely getting warmer here.

And to my surprise, when we arrived here just before Thanksgiving, there was one bud on my rose bush. Most of the leaves were gone which appear to have been eaten by some sort of worm. The flower opened up a couple of weeks ago. A little tattered and chewed but to have a rose bloom in January for me is a real treat!

Last week I picked up 2 more rose bushes, a pretty yellow one and a light pink called Queen Elizabeth.

Other than that, I've been working in the yard as much as I can and doing a little crochet in the evening which I'll post soon.

I had big plans to post a lot more in January but I caught that horrible cold/flu bug shortly after my last post, that thing really knocked me down and it's no fun to be alone and that sick! I was so dehydrated no matter how much I drank. Thank goodness for my neighbor who kindly brought me a huge breakfast on my 3rd day of being stuck in bed. I was able to nibble on that all day and during that night I started to recover. Maybe next winter I'll have to get a flu shot!

More posts coming soon!

Thanks for stopping by!