Female Cardinal
Outside our dining room window is a small garden bed that doesn’t get a lot of special care. It’s partially under the eaves so the back is fairly dry but that doesn’t seem to deter the things growing there. We have a clump of maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) that came from our old yard in Gaithersburg and before that from my parents’ house. There is a big clump of blackberry lily (Iris domestica) that blooms wonderfully through the middle of the summer. There is also a huge butterfly bush (Buddleja) seedling that would be nicer if it were not so huge. All the spare space in the bed is taken up by Virginia Knotweed (Persicaria virginiana var. filiformis ‘Painter’s Palette’). That has loads of very tiny red flowers followed by brown seeds (achenes, technically). Apparently, and I didn’t realize this, the birds love the seeds. I’ve noticed cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) and white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) on them a few times over the last few days and managed to get a few decent photographs through the dining room window. So far, only the female cardinal has sat high enough in the them to be clearly visible.