Getting Ready

The cardinals who avoid each other and compete during the breeding season are now gathering together in their winter flocks.

Some of them look a little rough because they’re just finishing their fall molt, so I’m having trouble deciding whether some of them are females or juveniles.

And even after the freeze over the weekend I saw a hummingbird in my garden looking for any flowers that managed to find a warm pocket of air and survive. I still have my hummingbird feeders out for back-up.